Weaker and weaker!
by sakurarules4eternity
Summary: Sakura hears her team mates calling her weak and soon leaves the village with a mysterious woman. This will lead Sakura to meet a familiar black haired missing-nin and find herself torn between the fate of Konoha and her heart's uprising emotions.Sasusaku
1. Chapter 1

**Weaker and weaker**

**Chapter 1 **

**The truth**

**A/N: A new story. This one is going to be a Sasusaku story. I will still be continuing "I'm not weak". Please review.**

"I wonder if we are training today, nobody told me if we were." Thought a fourteen year old Sakura as she walked towards the training grounds. As she was nearing the training grounds, she heard voices so she stopped and looked around a tree. Her team was their along with the rest of the teams and their sensei's. "That's strange. Why are they meeting up without me? Everyone's there." Thought Sakura, confused.

"She's so weak that she shouldn't even be a shinobi." Sakura's eyes widened as she heard what Ino had said.

"Just extra luggage that needs to be dragged around...troublesome." said Shikamaru.

"She must be useless on missions; I mean she's too weak to fight." Said Chouji while while eating his way through a bag of snacks.

"H-hai." Said Hinata.

Sakura felt something strange in her chest and she clutched her chest. It felt like...despair as she listened to the other teams put in their opinions about her. "No, what am I doing. I should trust my teammates to do the right things." Thought Sakura while still clutching her chest.

"...I'm ashamed of Sakura. She's out of her league and she shouldn't have become a shinobi if she was just going to be extra luggage that we have to take around. The other villagers would probably think the same. What's the point of becoming a shinobi if you are just going to make the chances of a mission failing become higher." Said Kakashi in his drawling voice.

Sakura clutched harder to her chest and she watched as the tears landed beneath her. "...No...No...Naruto...Sasuke...make the pain go away...don't say what they did...please...stop the pain."

"Sakura is a burden to us and slows us down on missions. She's annoying." Said Sasuke while leaning against a tree.

"...Please...Naruto...the pain...it's...unbearable."

"She's not useful on any missions and she beats us up more than actually doing anything useful!" said Naruto loudly.

Sakura leaned put a hand against the tree to support her. Her chest had an unbearable feeling in it...It felt so...strange...like all the emotions in the world.

Sakura stood up straight and ran away. She was running to the Hokage office. She stopped at the door of Tsunade's office and was about to raise her hand to knock when she stopped.

"Sakura...I agree with you Shizune. She shouldn't be called a shinobi." She heard Tsunade say.

Sakura's hand fell to her side.

"If we told the villagers, they would agree. She shouldn't be allowed to protect the village as a shinobi. She constantly slows her team down and jeopardizes the success of the mission. If the villagers found out they would hate her." Said Shizune.

"I agree." Said Tsunade.

Sakura ran...ran to her house.

"Tsunade...she's always felt like the mother I never had." Thought Sakura as she fell on her bed and cried the pain away.

Sakura had lost her parents a few months after she had been placed in team 7. Nobody but Tsunade knew.

A few hours later Sakura was trying to sleep but she couldn't. The word...weak...kept invading her thoughts. "What am I going to do? Tomorrow I have I have to go meet Kakashi-sen-...No, he doesn't deserve my respect...I have to go meet the team in the training grounds."

Sakura turned slightly in her bed and looked out the window, and at the moon. The tears fell once more, blocking the sight of the moon.

**A/N: Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2: Dull ache

**Chapter 2**

**Dull ache**

**A/N: Characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

Sakura woke up the next morning with red eyes. She had not gotten any sleep and had cried the whole night. As she stood up she quickly went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. As she looked in the mirror she gasped and tried to dull down the redness in her eyes. By the time she was ready, the redness had gone away but it there was still a bit left.

"Maybe, I should pretend I got a solo mission so that I won't have to go training with the team." Thought Sakura but then she shook her head, "No, Tsunade always alerts the sensei's if anyone's going on a mission...I wonder why my chest hurts..."

Sakura walked exceptionally slowly to the meeting place for team 7. As she saw the bridge she sighed and rubbed the last of her tears away, which she had not even noticed were falling. She walked, if possible, even more slowly. She saw Naruto and Sasuke on the bridge waiting. She felt anger when she saw them...but also despair...they reminded her of what had happened.

She walked on to the bridge and went to the railing on the opposite side of where Sasuke and Naruto were standing. She didn't say good morning to either of them. She rested her hands on the railing and looked at the dark sky. Kakashi had asked them to meet at 6:00am and since it was winter, it was still very dark.

"Morning Sakura-chan!" said Naruto while bounding over to her.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly before she thought, "...He said that I was weak as well..."

Sakura looked at him sadly before turning back to the sky. Naruto looked at her confused and said, "What's wro-..."

Kakashi-sensei appeared and Sakura turned away and she felt the pain in her chest become worse and her eyes widened slightly, "...Why does it hurt...Is it because of what happened..."

"Sorry I'm late; I got lost on the path of lif-..." Kakashi was interrupted by Naruto shouting, "Liar!"

"Well, anyway, today we're going to go train together." Said Kakashi while walking away.

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura walked behind him towards the training grounds. Sakura walked slightly behind the other three. Whenever she looked at them, the pain in her chest would become worse.

An hour later, Naruto and Sasuke were fighting each other to test out how much they had improved.

"Okay, that's enough. My treat at Ichiraku's." Said Kakashi while walking.

Naruto ran after him and said, "You're the best, sensei."

Sasuke walked coolly behind them with his hands in his pockets, "...Hn..."

I ran after Kakashi and said, "But...what about me...sensei. Can I not train with someone?"

Kakashi looked at her and said, "Maybe next time Sakura."

Kakashi continued walking with Naruto running ahead and Sasuke walking coolly behind, but Sakura stopped. She stood there and felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She didn't wipe them away but instead she let them fall. "...It's...my fault...I made myself believe that what I heard was wrong...I changed it in my head...to something I wanted..."

Sakura turned in the opposite direction and walked away from them while wiping her tears away. She clutched at her chest again.

"Why is there always this strange pain in my chest...like...like a dull ache..."

**A/N: Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3: Trust

**Chapter 3 **

**Trust **

**A/N: I just want to say that nobody knows that Sakura overheard their conversation. All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

That same day at night, Sakura sat on her bed deep in her thoughts. She was crying. Suddenly she stood up and brushed her tears away and shook her head.

"...I shouldn't dwell on this...I haven't even been eating...or sleeping..." thought Sakura.

She opened her door and locked it before she walked towards Ichiraku ramen. "What if the others are their...no...it doesn't matter...they don't know that I heard their ...conversation."

Sakura pushed aside the sign of Ichiraku ramen and sighed in relief when she noticed that it was empty. She sat down on one of the stools and waited for either Teuchi or Ayame to come and take her order. After 5 minutes Teuchi came out and she looked up at him and smiled, "One miso ramen please."

Teuchi looked at her coldly and went to put some ramen in a bowl. Sakura was confused as Teuchi was normally very kind. She sat their thinking but was snapped out of her thoughts by Teuchi banging her bowl of ramen in front of her. Sakura looked up at him confused and asked politely, "If I may ask, is something wrong?"

Teuchi glared at her and said, "We heard about how you're weak and jeopardize missions succeeding," Sakura's eyes widened, "You shouldn't be a ninja if you're weak. We all rely on ninjas to keep us safe by doing missions. If you jeopardize the chance of a mission succeeding, you put us in more danger. You're weak and shouldn't be a shinobi" Teuchi shouted the last part.

Sakura looked down at her ramen but she pushed it away and placed some money on the counter before leaving silently and quickly.

Sakura clutched her chest again.

Sakura looked around to see where she was. It was dark now and she was at the training grounds. She took some kunai out and began throwing them at trees. When she had thrown all her kunai she walked over to the tree and tried to pull out all the kunai. Tears blurred her vision and leaked from her eyes. "...They are making the pain worse...they don't know anything..."

She tried pulling the kunai again and the wood around it splintered and cut both her wrists. She looked down at her wrists to see multiple cuts on both. She picked up her kunai and walked home.

When she reached her house she walked into the kitchen and looked at some food. She shook her head and turned away from the food. She couldn't eat.

Sakura's despair seemed beyond tears. "I...I placed my trust in them...and...and it caused nothing but...pain..."

Sakura shook her head walked towards her bookshelf. She had quite a lot of books. She slipped the one she was looking for out. It was a book on medical ninjutsu. Sakura had always been interested in medical ninjutsu as she knew she had good chakra control. She was even going to ask Tsunade to train her...before what happened.

She placed the book on her bed and came back holding some bandages. She opened the book and read some of it before placing it back down and putting her hands to her bloody wrists. After a while some green chakra appeared and Sakura was impressed with herself. "...It usually takes a while to reach even this stage..." though Sakura. She began healing her wounds. She couldn't heal them fully as she this was her first time trying to heal something. There were still some markings that she would get rid of when she advanced in healing. She wrapped the bandages around both of her wrists and picked up the medical book. It was a very old one...but the old ones were better than the newer books.

"Maybe I should train in medical ninjutsu...but who should I train with...Tsunade...no, not after what happened...I'll train on my own...in secret and make sure nobody finds out." Though Sakura.

Sakura put the book down and changed to go to bed. She turned to look at the moon, hoping that it would let her fall asleep. She finally fell asleep. In the morning she woke up and looked out the window. She sighed and remembered that she had at least slept last night.

She changed and looked at her bandages. "What if somebody asks how I got them?" thought Sakura but then she pushed the thought out of her head. After locking her door, she began walking towards the Hokage tower because yesterday after...training...Kakashi had asked them to meet there for a mission. She noticed that some of the villagers gave her dirty looks. She felt the pain in her chest begin again and she sped up. When she reached the Hokage's door she knocked and walked inside. She saw that her team was already there. She stood slightly further away from her team.

Tsunade looked at her and said, "Why are your wrists bandaged Sakura?"

Everyone looked at her wrists except Sasuke who just leaned coolly against the wall.

Sakura place her hands behind her back and said, "I...uh...nothing...it's nothing."

Tsunade looked at her a little longer and said, "Team Kakashi, I am going to assign this B-rank mission to you. You are supposed to collect some very important scrolls from the land of Iron. Be careful, it may turn into an A-rank mission if you run into the enemy."

Kakashi nodded and said, "Hai."

The rest of them walked out and Kakashi said, "Meet at the gates in 10 minutes. Go and get your stuff. It's going to be at least 6 days before we come back. Make sure you all wear black."

Kakashi disappeared in purple smoke and Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto ran to their houses to get their stuff and to change.

Sakura reached her house and packed some money as she knew that it would be a while before they came back to Konoha, a few pairs of clothes, an extra cape, food rations, soldier pills, extra weapons and her medical pack. Everything she wore was black and plain with no designs. She wore a black mid-thigh skirt, a long sleeve black shirt that was v-neck and showed some cleavage, a pair of black tights and a pair of black boots that she had swapped with her ninja sandals because they were going to the land of Iron and it snowed there a lot.. Her weapons pack had been swapped for a black one instead of the usual beige coloured one and it was fastened around her waist. Finally she pulled on a black cape and pulled down the hood. What she didn't know was how her clothes fitted her figure perfectly.

Sakura was just about to leave when she saw the medical ninjutsu book that she had been reading. She picked it up and hesitated before she put it in her bag.

**A/N: Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4: Crystal tears

**Chapter 4**

**Crystal tears**

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

Sakura began running towards the gates. She stopped when they came into sight and she began walking. Sasuke was the only one standing there.

"...He called me a...burden..." thought Sakura as she walked.

When she reached the gates, she went to the opposite side of the gates from Sasuke. Suddenly they heard someone shout, "Teme!"

Sakura looked up while Sasuke casually leaned against the gates.

"Hey...sorry I'm late...wait...Kakashi-sensei isn't even here!" yelled Naruto. Suddenly Kakashi appeared in purple smoke holding his orange book.

"You're late!" yelled Naruto while pointing at him.

"...How...How can they be like that...when they know that they called me weak..." thought Sakura turning away.

"Sakura." Sakura looked up at Kakashi.

"Are you okay?" asked Kakashi while looking at her.

"...How can he even ask that...he's just acting...like Tsunade..." thought Sakura. She looked at him coldly before turning away.

Kakashi looked at her for a while longer before saying, "Let's head out. We should enter the snow country late tonight."

They set out.

8 hours later they stopped and began making camp. As they were setting up camp it began snowing lightly but the ground was already covered in snow.

Once they had finished eating some food Kakashi said, "We're going to have to keep watch. 2 hours for each person before swapping shifts. So, Sakura you can go first."

Sakura stood up and wordlessly walked to a tree and sat in it. It provided an amazing view of the sky.

The others entered their tent which they were all sharing. Sakura looked up at the beautiful dark sky and at the stars.

Half an hour later Sakura jumped on to the ground silently. She looked inside the tent and spotted her bag beside behind Naruto's head.

Sakura looked at it and silently entered the tent. She bent down when she reached her bag and looked inside. Sakura didn't know that Sasuke was awake and that he was a light sleeper.

Sakura found what she was looking for and she walked silently out of the tent again. Sakura jumped onto the same tree and looked at the medical ninjutsu book she had taken from her bag.

She opened it and read from where she had left off. Sakura took the bandages off of her wrists and let them fall off. She looked at the cuts that were still there and partially healed. She began healing one of her wrists and she looked at it once she was done. There was no sign of the damage. She was just looking at her other wrist and was about to heal it as well when she saw Sasuke coming out of the tent. She hid the book on the inside of her cape and looked at the sky.

She looked at Sasuke as he sat down beside her and he said, "...It's my shift now...those bandages...why are they here?..." said Sasuke continuing to look at the sky.

Sakura looked at the bandages as Sasuke looked at her and she cursed herself for being so stupid. Sakura looked up to see Sasuke looking at her wrists...she pulled her sleeves down to cover the cuts and turned away.

She felt Sasuke grab her wrist and pull her sleeve up. She tried to snatch her wrist away, but he was a lot stronger than she was.

"...These are the cuts you were trying hide this morning..." said Sasuke looking up at her emotionlessly.

Sakura found herself falling into his black, onyx eyes.

Sakura snatched her wrist away and stood up, "The tree splintered while I was training and cut me...I'm going to go and find a lake."

Sasuke looked at the sky as she jumped off the tree. He had seen that she was hiding something in her cape.

Sakura walked into the woods and soon found a lake with a waterfall. It looked beautiful. The water looked like...crystals and the waterfall fell into it. Sakura took off her clothes and stepped inside the lake and waded towards the waterfall. The water was cold but not very cold. The snow fell around her as she stood in the lake. A silhouette against the darkness surrounding her.

"I...am I...am I still in love with Sasuke...I shouldn't be...after what they said...a burden...I still love him..." Tears fell from Sakura's eyes and they landed in the lake and instantly blended with the crystal water.

**A/N: Please review.**


	5. Chapter 5: Am I too weak?

**Chapter 5**

**Am I too weak?**

**A/N: Please read the message at the end of this story. All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

Sakura looked up from the fire. It was around 5 o'clock in the morning and it was still snowing. She had been sitting and staring into the depths of the flames since she had come back from the lake. She had taken watch again which meant that she hadn't slept the whole night.

"It's not like I sleep anyway..." thought Sakura. Sakura had not been sleeping very often as the day she had been betrayed haunted her mind and prevented her from falling asleep. She was now taking tablets for energy.

It was still snowing. Sakura ate some fish that they had caught the night before and when she had finished she swallowed one of her tablets. She slipped the pack of tablets into her cape before Kakashi walked out of the tent. She looked at him and then turned back to the flames. Kakashi walked over to the fire and took some fish before sitting down to eat it.

"Sakura?" said Kakashi. Sakura turned to look at him sadly. She had been remembering when everyone had been calling her weak.

"You're actin-..." Kakashi was interrupted by a loud voice from the tent.

"Teme! I'm going to kill you!" yelled Naruto.

"...Hn..."

"You didn't have to kick me awake!" whined Naruto.

Sasuke walked out of the tent with Naruto who was rubbing his head.

Naruto and Sasuke took some fish and Sakura stood up and walked into the tent. When she was sure nobody was with her in the tent, she slipped the medical ninjutsu book out of her cape and stared at it before placing it in her bag.

Half an hour later they were all jumping through the trees. The snow was becoming very heavy and they all pulled their hoods up. After around 5 hours, the snow had turned into a blizzard. Kakashi pointed to a cave and they all retreated inside. Once inside Kakashi said, "We're going to have to stay here until the blizzard dies down."

Kakashi and Naruto left the cave t go and find some dry wood while Sakura sat down near the back of the cave. After 20 minutes, Sakura stood up and walked to her bag. She pulled out her pills while Sasuke looked out of the cave without even looking at her.

Sakura was sure he hadn't seen her and was just about to walk back to the back of the cave when Sasuke said, "...Those pills...why do you have them?..."

Sakura stopped and put the pills in her cape before turning around and saying, "What pills are you talking about?"

"...The ones that you just hid in your cape..." said Sasuke without even looking at her.

"He didn't even turn around..." thought Sakura.

At that moment Naruto and Kakashi walked in and set the dry wood down.

"All the wood was wet, so we had to find some dry wood which took longer." Said Kakashi.

Sakura walked to the back of the cave and quickly swallowed her tablet so that nobody would see.

A few hours later, they ate some food and Kakashi said, "We're going to have to take shifts."

Sakura looked up quickly and said, "I'll take first shift..."

Kakashi looked at Sakura strangely before saying, "Are you sure you can handle it Sakura? Last night was different because it wasn't snowing as heavy as it is now. If you take a shift now, you won't be able to see or hear any approaching enemy."

Sakura suddenly felt a surge of anger and she stood up and said, "Why? Do you think I'm too _weak_ to handle it?" She turned around and walked to the front of the cave before sitting down. "Why did I say that? They're not supposed to know that I heard their...conversation...

they probably won't think that I heard their conversation anyway.

At the back of the cave Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Sakura as if he was trying to figure something out and Naruto looked confused. Sasuke looked at Sakura's back emotionlessly.

After half an hour, the snow blizzard had ceased and instead the snow was falling lightly from the midnight blue sky. Sakura lost herself in the stars and the moon, the flames of the fire casting shadows on her face.

**A/N: PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE. I have a new idea for a story and I was wondering what you thought. So here is the summary for it.**

_**Sakura is betrayed by her friends calling her weak. When she is crying near cherry blossom trees under the moonlight, Madara comes and tells her that if she comes with him, she can get her revenge on them. (Madara is not after the tailed beasts anymore, in fact he is finding other ways to gain power.) Sakura becomes Madara's apprentice and when she is 16, Sasuke fights and kills Itachi (like in the anime) and Madara tells Sasuke the truth about his clan and how Itachi killed them because of the elders. Sasuke joins (Naruto Shippuden episode 142) Akatsuki and when they are at the meeting table with Madara and Kisame, Sakura turns up with some top-secret papers and sees Sasuke...**_

**So I wondering if you liked the summary and if this should be my next story after I finish this one and "I'm not weak"**


	6. Please read this message

**A/N: PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE. I have a new idea for a story and I was wondering what you thought. So here is the summary for it.**

_**Sakura is betrayed by her friends calling her weak. When she is crying near cherry blossom trees under the moonlight, Madara comes and tells her that if she comes with him, she can get her revenge on them. (Madara is not after the tailed beasts anymore, in fact he is finding other ways to gain power.) Sakura becomes Madara's apprentice and when she is 16, Sasuke fights and kills Itachi (like in the anime) and Madara tells Sasuke the truth about his clan and how Itachi killed them because of the elders. Sasuke joins (Naruto Shippuden episode 142) Akatsuki and when they are at the meeting table with Madara and Kisame, Sakura turns up with some top-secret papers and sees Sasuke...**_

**So, I was wondering if you liked the summary and if this should be my next story after I finish my other story which is "I'm not weak". PLEASE TELL ME IN THE REVIEWS.**


	7. Chapter 6: Vision

**Chapter 6**

**Vision **

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

Sakura pulled her hood down when it finally stopped snowing. They were now jumping through the trees and they had left the cave a few hours ago. The snow crunched underneath Sakura's boots whenever she landed on a branch. Suddenly Kakashi stopped and the others did as well. She stopped and landed on a branch beside Naruto.

Naruto looked at Kakashi and said, "Why are we stopping? We have to get the scrolls for Tsunade-baa chan!"

"There are three people ahead." Said Kakashi.

"Kakashi of the sharingan. We expected you to be a challenge." Said a mysterious voice. From the shadows came a man who had brown spiky hair and he wore a white headband. He also had a strange drill on his right arm.

Another man followed behind him. He had black hair and had a strange burn mark around his right eye which spread to his right ear.

A woman also followed. She had brown hair and beautiful maroon eyes. She did not look as strange as the other two but she looked a lot more mysterious. Her eyes looked as if they could see everything that was hidden in the world.

"Who are you and what do you want?" said Kakashi calmly.

"I think you know what we want. We want the scrolls, but firstly, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Toki. This is," he gestured to the man on his left, "Kandachi and this is," he nodded to the woman on his left, "Yuuki."

The woman had been staring at Sakura for a while now.

"We don't have the scrolls." Said Kakashi.

"You don't right now, but you were given a mission to retrieve them. If we kill you now, they will be easier for us to obtain." Said Kandachi.

Toki nodded. The woman was now gazing more intently at Sakura.

Suddenly Toki raised his right arm so that his drill was facing them and said, "Crimson mud!"

The drill shot towards them and they all jumped out of the way. The drill managed to cut Sakura slightly on her arm as she jumped out of the way.

The drill went straight through a couple of trees.

When the team were all safely on the ground, they turned to face their enemies.

Kakashi suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the enemy and said, "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu." A great ball of flame came from Kakashi's mouth and headed straight for their enemies. While Kakashi was doing this Sasuke gathered lightning into his hands and said, "Chidori!" while heading straight for Kandachi. Naruto had created shadow clones and had formed a rasengan in his hand and had begun running towards the man named Toki, "Rasengan!"

Sakura stood still and thought, "I...I can't do anything...They were right...I'm useless and just a...burden..." Suddenly Sakura saw a shadow and she spun around and saw that Yuuki was standing behind her, "Death mirage jutsu."

Suddenly Sakura found herself with different surrounding. She was back in Konoha and the Konoha 12 stood in front of her with their sensei's saying, "She's weak! She doesn't deserve to be a shinobi!"

Sakura felt the tears slide down her face and she turned around and was about to run when she saw the villagers behind her whispering, with looks of hatred in their eyes.

They surrounded her and she felt the despair in her heart as she watched them look at her in hatred. Suddenly she felt the jutsu release and she found herself exactly where she had been with Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi still fighting behind her.

Yuuki stood in front of her and she looked at Sakura with those mysterious eyes. The woman was still looking at Sakura when she said in a low, calm voice, "Toki, Kandachi." Toki and Kandachi turned to look at her as she said, "There are other ways of becoming powerful."

Toki stood in thought for a moment before nodding and reappearing beside her along with Kandachi. Yuuki had a mysterious voice and she had not stopped looking into Sakura's eyes.

Toki disappeared in flames while Kandachi disappeared in smoke. Snow swirled around Yuuki as she looked into Sakura's eyes and then she disappeared.

Sakura stood up and looked at the place Yuuki had disappeared from. She finally turned around and looked at the rest of her team. They all jumped into the trees and continued. The snow began falling again. Sakura looked up at the darkening sky, deep in thought.

**A/N: Please review.**


	8. Chapter 7: Moonlight

**Chapter 7**

**Moonlight**

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

Sakura looked at the flames in the fire before reaching for her bag and taking her tablet. Naruto was snoring not far away and Kakashi was also asleep. Sasuke sat in a tree not far away, on watch. She had taken to staring into the fire. It was almost her turn to keep watch so she stood up and pulled her cape cloak tighter around her, before walking towards the tree Sasuke sat in. She jumped up onto the branch he sat on and said, "It's my turn to keep watch now."

Sakura had stopped acting childishly around Sasuke and everyone else as she knew that they had called her weak. He continued looking into the distance. She stepped forward slightly but slid as the branch was covered with snow. In panic she grabbed Sasuke's hand and they both hit the ground with Sasuke on top of Sakura. Sakura lay beneath Sasuke with their faces only centimetres apart. She could feel his warm breath on her face and she could smell his musky, mysterious scent. She felt the blush rise in her cheeks slightly. Sasuke stood up and Sakura followed.

"Sorry." Said Sakura quietly.

"...Hn..." Sasuke walked into the tent.

"...I'm...still in...Love...with him...after all they said about me..." Sakura jumped up into the tree and sat down on a branch. For half an hour she sat staring into the distance.

Suddenly she felt movement beside her so she turned her head to see what it was. Immediately she stood up with a kunai in her hand and stepped into a defensive position.

"There is no need to be alarmed young one. I am not here to harm you. I merely wish to talk." The woman she had met earlier stood in front of her. Yuuki.

"Why are you here?" said Sakura confused.

"I merely wish to talk." Repeated Yuuki.

Sakura looked at Yuuki for a while before nodding and slipping her Kunai bag into her weapons pouch. Yuuki sat down on the branch and soon Sakura sat beside her. They stayed silent for a while, both gazing into the distance.

"Why do want to talk with me?" said Sakura.

"...During the genjutsu...I saw everything what happened..." Sakura turned to look at Yuuki.

"I wanted to know why that happened in the genjutsu..." said Yuuki in her mysterious voice.

"Why should I tell you? You're a complete stranger..." said Sakura.

"...I could help..." said Yuuki mysteriously. Sakura could not understand what she meant by that.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you..." said Sakura.

They both stayed silent for a while.

"I was going to go training one day. I overheard my teammates and friends calling me weak. Saying I didn't deserve to be a shinobi. Even the Hokage said that I was weak. I cried a lot...In the end I decided to go eat at Ichiraku's." Said Sakura. Reliving all this made Sakura's heart ache.

Yuuki kept quiet and continued looking into the distance.

"The owner, Teuchi, told me that I shouldn't be a shinobi if all I will do is jeopardize a mission. I didn't eat that night. Although I did begin learning some medical ninjutsu...I'm not advanced...but I want to get stronger...to prove them wrong..." said Sakura.

"I am advanced at medical ninjutsu..." said Yuuki.

Sakura looked at her.

"...I can train you..." said Yuuki in her mysterious voice.

Sakura looked at Yuuki, confused, " Why, I barely even know you..."

"...I have been through what you have...I was named weak...that is why I left my village...I am now a missing-nin..."

Sakura looked at Yuuki for a while before saying, "How can I trust you?"

"What reason could I have to harm you, young one?" said Yuuki.

Sakura looked into the distance, deep in thought, before finally nodding.

They looked at each other for a while before turning away and looking into the distance. Sakura felt compelled to trust Yuuki...she wanted to prove that she wasn't weak.

The two sat there for a long time, looking into the distance. Moonlight falling onto their faces, the darkness surrounding them.

**A/N: Please review.**


	9. Chapter 8: Anxiety

**Chapter 8**

**Anxiety**

**A/N:All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

Yuuki stood up and said, "I will see you tomorrow night...someone is coming...I must leave..." Sakura was about to ask how Yuuki would find her but Yuuki had already disappeared. Kakashi walked out of the tent and said, "It's my shift now. You should get some rest."

He pulled out his Icha Icha book and jumped into the tree and sat down.

Sakura stood up and jumped off the tree before walking into the tent. She rummaged through her rucksack and pulled out her medical ninjutsu book. She read a bit more, turning the old pages. A piece of paper fell out. She picked up the paper and turned it over. The paper was crinkled, brown and aging, yet Sakura was still able to decipher the writing.

As far as Sakura could make out of the writing, the paper explained of a jutsu. Sakura could not tell what it was. She decided that she would try to decipher the writing when they went back to Konoha. She placed the paper carefully back into the book. She opened up her rucksack and placed the book inside.

A twig snapped outside and she froze. She silently stood up and headed outside. Kakashi had dropped out of the tree and was scanning the dark forest around them.

"Did you hear that?" asked Sakura, walking to Kakashi's side.

Kakashi nodded, while his only visible eye scanned the forest.

"You should head back inside. It was probably nothing." Sakura nodded and walked back to the tent.

Before she entered she thought she saw a flash of purple, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

In the morning, Kakashi still seemed wary. In 20 minutes they had packed up and were headed out.

When they arrived in the land of Iron a man was waiting for them, standing inconspicuously in a corner of the gates. He motioned towards them and said, "Kakashi of the Sharingan?"

Kakashi nodded and the man pulled out some scrolls bound by gold rope. He looked around them and nodded once again before walking away and blending with the crowd.

Kakashi placed the scrolls in his rucksack and said, "Let's head back!"

A few hours later, Kakashi said, "Let's take a break. We're making good progress. If we continue at this pace, we'll reach the village by tonight."

They all nodded and Sakura walked away to find a stream, to fill her canteen. She knelt down beside the stream and filled her canteen. She watched the water ripple and become blurry. When the water became clear again, she saw Sasuke standing behind her.

She whipped around and stood up. He bent down to fill his canteen. She was about to walk away when Sasuke said, "...Is something up?...You're not yourself..."

Sakura stopped and didn't turn around. Her eyes darkened as she said, "...It's nothing..." Sasuke turned around and nodded before walking back towards the clearing where Kakashi and Naruto were.

Sakura looked at his back as he walked away. She looked at the ground and raised her head. A lone tear escaped her eyes. She let it fall and watched it hit the ground.

She walked back towards the clearing.

**A/N: Please review.**


	10. Chapter 9: Intruder

**Chapter 9**

**Intruder**

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

Sakura entered the clearing and Kakashi stood up and said, "Well, let's go!" Naruto jumped up and said, "The first thing I'm going to do when we get back is get a bowl of Miso Ramen from Ichiraku's!"

Kakashi sighed and Sasuke said, "Dobe..."

Naruto began arguing with Sasuke while Sakura became lost in her thoughts. How was she going to train with Yuuki? Would she have to leave the village? Would she back out? So many thoughts ran through her head.

5 hours later they arrived at the village gate. They began heading towards the Hokage tower where Tsunade was waiting for the mission report. It was dark and the streets were empty other than the occasional drunk passer-by, who had a bottle of sake in his hand.

When they arrived, Tsunade stood with her back facing them and looking out the window. Kakashi began talking and said, "The mission proceeded smoothly until we reached the border of the Land of Iron where we were attacked by three missing-nin. They went by the names Toki and Kandachi and the woman was named Yuuki. They were after the scrolls but the woman, Yuuki," Sakura shifted slightly, "persuaded the two men that there were other ways of becoming powerful. My guess is that we will run into them again if they do carry out these plans of becoming powerful."

Tsunade stayed quiet but there was a look of worry etched upon her face and it seemed to age her. Sakura shifted again, slightly more uncomfortably this time. Tsunade nodded after what seemed like eternity and said, "You should rest up."

They turned around and before they could leave, Tsunade said, "Sasuke! Go to the hospital and stop being stubborn about your injuries!" Sasuke scowled slightly before walking out the door with Naruto running behind. Sakura walked out but not before noticing that Kakashi remained in the room with Tsunade.

When Sakura shut the door behind her and left Kakashi said, "Tsunade, I'm worried about Sakura. She isn't herself and isn't acting as she used to. She's changed somehow. She isn't even acting like a child around Sasuke anymore."

Tsunade nodded and said, "I noticed Kakashi...I expect you to find out what it is..."Kakashi nodded and disappeared. Tsunade turned around and rummaged in a drawer. She pulled out a bottle of sake.

Meanwhile Sakura was heading to the hospital. She needed to be healed from her fight with Yuuki. When she had put the genjutsu on Sakura, she had fallen and gained a deep cut on her knee. She entered the hospital and looked around and noticed that it was quite empty. She walked to a medical room and asked to see a medic. When she had been healed she walked out but noticed she heard a voice from a room she was passing by. It was Naruto. She opened the door and saw Sasuke lying on the hospital bed, with Naruto sitting beside the bed on a chair. He was holding a pot of instant ramen. They turned towards the door when they heard it open. Naruto jumped up and ran towards her and said, "You're here Sakura-chan! I thought you wouldn't come because you seen kind of...distant nowadays..."

Sakura looked at him and blinked before saying, "I'm okay...sorry if I worried you..." Sasuke turned to look at her. She turned away and said, "So...How long do you have to stay here?"

"Sasuke-teme has to stay in here for two days! Apparently there was some type of poison in kunai that the Kandachi guy through!" Naruto answered for him.

Sasuke looked at the duvets and clenched the sheets in his fists.

Sakura nodded and said, "Well...I might come tomorrow..." She turned and walked out of the room.

As she walked through the streets, she stopped outside Ichiraku's. "Why was I so nice to them after what they did?" Sakura already knew the answer but she didn't want to admit it to herself. She felt so lonely that she was trying to hand on to even the smallest amount of hope that she had.

She quickly dismissed the thought and wondered if she should buy some ramen from Ichiraku's but then she remembered the last time she went there.

She walked past it and into her house. She washed all the grime from the mission away and changed into some looser night clothes before lying down in bed. She turned to look out of the balcony door that was shut. Suddenly a shadow appeared in front of the door. She sat up in her bed and took a kunai out of the drawer beside her bed. Sakura approached the door and slowly stretched out her hand until it landed on the handle of the door.

She slid it open and bought her kunai forward.

**A/N: Please review.**


	11. Chapter 10: Leaving

**Chapter 10**

**Leaving**

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Please review.**

_**Thoughts**_

Sakura bought her kunai forward and she felt a hand close around her wrist and she whipped around to look to her right. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she recognized the person who stood beside her.

Yuuki looked at Sakura with almost amused eyes.

Sakura glared at Yuuki and walked back inside her house to put her kunai away. She gestured for Yuuki to come in but Yuuki remained where she was. Sakura looked at her confused.

"I came only to remind you that tomorrow night we are leaving..." Sakura averted her eyes and her eyes lay on the team 7 photo beside her bed. She looked back at Yuuki and nodded.

She turned around to look at the team 7 photo again and when she turned to look at Yuuki again, she was gone. Sakura sighed and slid the balcony door shut.

The next morning, Sakura stood outside the hospital and was debating with herself if she should go and see Sasuke.

Sakura took a hesitant step towards Sasuke's room door and slid it open.

Her eyes widened slightly at the sight before her. Sasuke and Naruto faced each other.

They didn't seem to notice her come in.

"W-what? You don't have to stare." Said Naruto

"Hey, Naruto..." said Sasuke while looking at Naruto.

"What is it?"

"Fight me, right now." said Sasuke.

Sakura's eyes widened and Naruto became confused saying, "Huh? What are you saying? You've just been treated by Tsunade baa-chan!"

"I don't care! Just fight me!" growled Sasuke. His eyes opened, revealing his Sharingan.

Naruto's eyes widened while Sasuke said, "You think you saved me? I don't care if she's the Godaime Hokage! Doing unnecessary things...!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, becoming angry, "What?"

Sasuke's pulled his bed sheets off of himself and he stepped on to the ground, "You said before you wanted to fight me, didn't you? I said I'd fight you right here and now." Sasuke smirked, "Or are you afraid?"Naruto growled at Sasuke.

Sakura decided to intervene and she stepped forward saying, "S-Sasuke-kun, "She didn't even realize that she was adding the suffix to his name again, "What's wrong? Naruto, say something."

Naruto smirked and said, "Perfect timing, I was just itching to fight you!"

Sakura smiled nervously and said, "Why don't the both of you just cut it out, okay?"

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto answered but instead they just continued staring at each other.

Sasuke jerked his head towards the door and said, "Follow me." Naruto glared while Sasuke began walking towards the door and Sakura looked at him walking out with nervous eyes.

She suddenly remembered Sasuke with the curse mark taking control of him during the Chuunin exams. She looked to the ground and also remembered Orochimaru as well.

Sasuke walked up the stairs of the hospital with Naruto following. They arrived on the roof where the hospital bed sheets hung on washing lines and blew in the wind. Sasuke stopped and turned around to face Naruto. They both narrowed their eyes.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, _what's with this feeling? The bottom of my stomach is twitching._

Naruto remembered the time Sasuke said that he wanted to fight him too.

_And, it's giving me a thrill._

Naruto raised his head and laughed slightly. "What's so funny?" said Sasuke.

"Nothing's funny." answered Naruto, "I'm excited. To think that I can finally beat you here."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and remembered his last meeting with Itachi.

_Flashback_

_Our priority is to take Naruto-kun with us, as ordered by our organization, Akatsuki._

_End of Flashback_

"What? Cut the nonsense you dropout!" said Sasuke.

"I won't be anyone's burden, nor a dropout forever." Said Naruto his eyes hardening.

Sasuke's Sharingan quivered slightly.

_Flashback_

"_I have no interest in you right now." Said Itachi._

_End of Flashback_

Sasuke's gaze hardened.

Sakura finally arrived on the rooftop to hear Sasuke saying, "You...You dumbass! Why are you so full of yourself?"

"Ha! You, who's always been so cool-headed, is talking more than usual. That's not like you. Could it be that you're scared despite the fact that you picked the fight, Sasuke?" said Naruto.

"Whatever, let's get started." Said Sasuke.

"Before that, put on your forehead protector. I'll wait." Said Naruto.

Sasuke smirked and said, "I won't need it."

Naruto's gaze darkened, "I don't care. Just put it on!"

Sasuke pointed to his own forehead saying, "You won't even be able to scratch my forehead."

Naruto shook his head and said, "That's not what I mean!" he touched his forehead protector, "This Konoha forehead protector is proof that we are fighting evenly!"

Sakura's eyes widened while Sasuke said, "That's what I mean when I say you're full of yourself! You think that you and I are equals?"

"Yes, we are! I've never thought myself as any lower than you." said Naruto frustrated.

"You're an eyesore!" said Sasuke.

"That's because you're still weak, Sasuke-chan!" said Naruto angrily.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke, leaping forward.

Naruto also leaped forward, "Sasuke!"

They both attempted to punch each other but they both caught each other's hands. Sasuke kicked forward and Naruto bought his hands down to catch it and then he twisted Sasuke around. Sasuke reached for the ground and placed his two hands there before kicking Naruto, who twisted in the air and leapt towards Sasuke again; aiming a punch which Sasuke caught and sent Naruto to the ground. Sasuke ran forward and threw many punches all of which Naruto blocked, until Sasuke's foot hit Naruto, who flew backwards into a bed sheet hanging on a washing line.

Sasuke ran forward and pulled the bed sheet away. His eyes widened when he saw nobody underneath the sheets. His eyes darted around, trying to find Naruto on the rooftop. Sasuke leapt upwards to get a clearer view of the roof. He looked up and saw Naruto standing on the top of a large metal container. The sun blinded his eyes and Naruto seized the chance, leaping forward. He aimed a punch and Sasuke flew backwards and landed on a fence which he leapt off of again, "Don't be so overconfident!"

He leapt forward and punched Naruto in the air and he flew backwards and hit some washing poles.

Naruto ran forwards with Sasuke beside him. Sasuke kicked through a bed sheet and hit Naruto who banged into a fence while Sasuke leapt towards him and threw more punches that caused Naruto to continuously hit the fence behind him.

Sakura stared wide-eyed at the scene before her. _Naruto... _She placed her hands in front of her face as she heard more sounds of Naruto hitting the fence. She removed the hands in front of her face in time to see Sasuke leaping backwards as Naruto finally broke himself free of the bed sheet that had tangled around him, "Cut it out already!"

Sasuke and Naruto engaged in a Taijutsu battle in mid-air. They both landed on the ground panting. Naruto bought his hands up and formed the hand seal for the Bunshin Jutsu. Sasuke's eyes widened and Sakura tensed as Naruto yelled, "Tajyuu Kagebunshin no jutsu!"

Multiple Naruto's appeared around Sasuke, surrounding him. They all leapt towards Sasuke who destroyed most of them using Taijutsu but then two Naruto's slid towards him and kicked him upwards, while another Naruto appeared above him and bought his foot down on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke twisted around and formed a hand seal while Naruto leapt backwards, _a tiger seal?_

"Katon, Goukakyu no jutsu!" Sasuke blew fire towards the roof of the hospital and the shadow clones that Naruto created disappeared.

Sakura yelled, "Naruto!"

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw Naruto unscathed in the centre of the flames. The fire dispersed and Sasuke got a clearer view of Naruto. Naruto stood with a clone beside him and it was forming a rasengan in Naruto's hand.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, _what is that technique?_

Sasuke formed his Chidori, "Damn you!"

Sakura watched with her hands clasped in front of her, "Stop it!"

Sasuke and Naruto charged at each other. Naruto yelled, "I will win!"

"Don't be so confident!"Yelled Sasuke.

Sakura felt scared. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't stop caring about them. Even after what they did to her. "Stop it, you two..."

"STOP IT!" yelled Sakura. She felt her legs move of their own accord and she ran forwards.

They continued charging towards each other. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, _Crap_...

Naruto tried to pull back, _I can't stop._

Naruto and Sasuke felt hands clasp around their wrists and they were both flung backwards.

Sakura stopped running and opened her eyes to see Kakashi.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, _Naruto, that's..._

Sakura watched as Naruto's rasengan buried itself in a large metal container as Sasuke's Chidori did the same. She looked between both of them.

"What do you think the two of you are doing on top of the hospital? Isn't this a little too much for a sparring match?" said Kakashi in his usual drawling voice.

Kakashi watched Naruto pull his hand out of the container, _that technique was without a doubt...the Rasengan. What's going on? How can Naruto know that technique?_

Sasuke wrenched his hand out of the container and smirked. "Sasuke, were you planning to kill Naruto?" asked Kakashi.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly and he looked up to see Kakashi sitting on the container. "Why must you insist on being superior?" said Kakashi.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi. "Chidori is not a move to use against someone from the same village." Continued Kakashi.

Sakura listened with wide eyes. "Why did you act so childish?" said Kakashi.

_Could it be from seeing Itachi again?_

Naruto raised his head as Sasuke hmphed.

Sasuke back flipped on to the roof of another building.

Sakura's eyes retracted to their normal size.

Sasuke looked up from the building and his eyes widened.

The back of the container Naruto had hit was completely destroyed. He gritted his teeth and punched the wall, _Damn it! Naruto...How much stronger are you getting...?_

Sakura felt like crying but she wouldn't allow it. She turned on her heel and jumped off the hospital roof. When she was far enough away from the hospital. She punched the side of a building and clamped her eyes shut, _why?...why do I still care? I'm too weak...After all they did too me, why do I still care?_

* * *

><p>Sasuke felt wire surround him and he was pulled against a tree. "What's the meaning of this?"<p>

"If I don't do this, you'll run away, won't you? Since you aren't the type who would sit quietly and listen to lectures." answered Kakashi.

From afar, four sound ninja watched. "That's the copy ninja, Kakashi."

"Che!"

"Sasuke...Forget about revenge." Said Kakashi.

"Nani?" Sasuke narrowed his angered eyes.

"Well, I've seen a lot of people like you, and the fate of those who seek revenge is grim. It's tragic. You will end up suffering and hurting yourself even more. Even if you do succeed in getting revenge, the only thing that remains is emptiness."

"Shut up! What do you know? Don't lecture me as if you know what it's like!" said Sasuke angrily.

"Now, calm down." Said Kakashi.

"Then how about it? Should I kill the most important person to you right now? That way you'll know what you just said is way off the mark!" said Sasuke smirking.

"Well, I won't mind if you do. Unfortunately, I no longer have anybody important to me. They've all been killed already." Sasuke's eyes widened. "I've lived much longer than you. It was a bad time, too. I know very well how it feels to lose important people."

Sasuke lowered his head slightly. "Well, I'll say that we're both unlucky people. That's a fact. But we're not completely out of luck. You and I have important friends now, don't we? I regret now what I said about Sakura."

Sasuke remembered Naruto and Sakura smiling. "You understand because you lost important people." Kakashi removed the wires from around Sasuke, "You were given the power of Chidori because you have made important friends. That power isn't used against friends or for revenge. You should know what that power is for. Think very carefully about whether or not what I said is off or not." Kakashi let go of the wires completely.

"I have to go and find Sakura now. There's something wrong and I have the mission to find out what it is." Kakashi disappeared. Sasuke sat with his head bowed.

Four sound-nin appeared in front of Sasuke.

* * *

><p>Sakura stood with stood with her hands against her balcony. She remembered all the times she had been with her team before her life had been torn apart by mere words. She made her decision. Although she hated them, there was still a part of her that yearned to protect them and she made her decision. She turned around and ran out of her house.<p>

Naruto sat on a rooftop and he suddenly stood up and jumped off the building.

Naruto turned a corner and spotted Sakura leaning against a building. He walked towards her and said, "Sakura-chan." Sakura looked up and said, "I have something I need to tell you. We'll make it a date, so walk with me for a bit." Sakura turned and began walking. _Why am I doing this?_

"Sakura, let's go to Ichiraku if it's date!" said Naruto.

Sakura shook her head, remembering the last time she had been to Ichiraku's. "I'm sorry Naruto, I spaced out. Sasuke" she hesitated, "-kun told me not to tell you. It's all Orochimaru's fault. Kakashi-sensei said that he'd be fine, and I want to believe that, but when he fought Gaara, it...again...Earlier when he fought you, Sasuke-kun had that same face again. That's why, I..." she gripped her qipao dress.

Naruto stared at her hands and then looked up saying, "Orochimaru, huh? I met him the other day."

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked up at Naruto. "Where?"

"While searching for Tsunade baa-chan..."

* * *

><p>Sasuke stared at the photo of team 7. He reached out his hand and turned the photo over.<p>

* * *

><p><em>No...I can't do this...I'm leaving tonight as well...but...<em> Sakura turned on her heel and ran back from the way she came. She reached the only path out of the village and she waited.

Sasuke walked with his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed past the academy. He continued walking. Sakura came round the corner he was about to turn. She spotted the backpack, _Why do I care? _

Sasuke stopped in front of her and said, "What are you doing...wandering around here at night?"

Sakura lowered her head slightly and said, "Because in order to get out of the village, you have to take this road."

Sasuke stepped forward and walked around her, "Go home and sleep."

A single tear leaked out of Sakura's eyes. The frustration and loneliness was too much for her to take, "Why? Why did you call me a burden? Why did everyone else call me weak? Why won't you tell me anything?"

"Why do I have to tell you anything? It's none of your business. Stop concerning yourself with what I do." Sakura turned away and gritted her teeth. She smiled slightly. "Sasuke-kun always hated me, huh?" She turned back towards him, "Do you remember...the day we became Genin and when our three-member team was first chosen? The day you and I were here alone, you got mad at me, remember?"

_Flashback_

"_Oh yeah, you know how he doesn't have any parents, right?"said Sakura while smiling. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "If you're alone, your parents wouldn't get mad at you. That's why he's so selfish."_

"_The solitude...you can't even compare it to when your parents get mad at you." Said Sasuke._

"_What's the matter?" said Sasuke._

_Sasuke turned around and said, "You're annoying."_

_Sakura's eyes widened._

_End of Flashback_

"I don't remember." Sakura's eyes widened, _Why can't I stop...loving him..._

Sakura's lowered her eyes to the ground. She watched her tears hit the ground. "Makes sense. That's something that happened a while back." Sakura looked up, "But that's the day when everything started...You and I...and also Naruto and Kakashi-sensei."

Memories entered her mind. "The four of us completed a number of missions together. They were tough and a lot of work, but...above all...It was fun!" She looked down at the ground. "I know about your clan, but revenge...that won't make anyone happy. No one. Neither you...nor I."

"Just as I thought." Sakura looked at him. "I'm different from you guys. I walk a different path than you guys. I tried to think that it was my path to do the things we've done up until now. The four of us did things together, but my heart decided on revenge in the end." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "That's my purpose in life. I can't become like you or Naruto."

"Are you going to choose to be alone again? On the day, you taught me that solitude is painful! But then I was subjected to it. I was alone, I felt alone when I overheard everyone calling me weak. Then the villagers heard...They turned against me! I understand solitude so well right now. You all thought that I had a family! I didn't! But I did have friends until they said that I was weak! Even so, there's a part of me that tells me to continue o care for you...and Naruto and Kakashi-sensei too. But if you're gone...to me...I'll feel more alone than I already do!"

Sasuke remembered the team 7 photo. "From here on...a new path will open for all of us."

Sakura stepped forward, "I...! I love you so much! But what hurts the most is that I still love you even after all you said about me!"Sakura hardly knew what she was saying. She had forgotten that she was leaving tonight. All she knew was that if Sasuke left, it would mean that he truly didn't care for them anymore. "So...Please! Stay here!"

Sasuke turned around with a smirk on his face, "You really _are_ annoying." Sakura's eyes widened. Sasuke turned around and began walking away. "Don't leave!" Sakura ran forward, "If you do, I'll scream!"

Sasuke disappeared and Sakura's eyes widened, "Sakura...thank you." She felt a hand hit the back of her head and she slowly faded into unconsciousness, _Sasuke-kun..._

* * *

><p>"We've been waiting, Sasuke-sama." Sasuke stopped walking and said, "What are you plotting now?"<p>

One of the four sound-nins who were crouched in front of Sasuke said, "When you left the village, it was decided that you become our leader. Please forgive our rudeness earlier." They all bowed their heads towards him.

Sasuke walked past them, "Hn...I don't give a crap about that." The four sound-nin stood up.

"Let's go." Said Sasuke, "It begins."

* * *

><p>Sakura felt herself being shaken awake. She sat up and felt tears make their way down her face. <em>Sasuke-kun...he left...<em> She turned to the side and saw Yuuki, it was still dark. "Sakura...we should leave now..." Yuuki seemed to know that Sakura did not want to be questioned about her tears. Sakura nodded and wiped her hand on her face clearing her tears away. "Hai..."

**A/N: Please review.**


	12. Chapter 11: Training

**Chapter 11**

**Training**

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

The darkness surrounded Sakura and she never felt more alone even though Yuuki stood mere metres away from her. Her only closure was the fact that she was doing this to become strong.

Yuuki suddenly stopped and Sakura was relieved. They had been travelling for the whole day and even though Sakura tired, Yuuki did not stop stating that they should reach their destination before the snow storm began.

Yuuki gestured towards the sight in front of them. A village was lit up with beautiful lights and Sakura remembered that it would be time for the annual winter festival in Konoha. With sadness she wondered if it would be cancelled due to two leaf ninjas leaving the village. She shook her head and focused on Yuuki.

"Come." Said Yuuki. They walked through the crowds who walked from stall to stall buying food and enjoying the festival. Yuuki stopped and entered a small inn. They entered a room and Sakura noticed that there were already two futons on the floor. She looked up and recognized two people. Kandachi and Toki nodded at Yuuki and stared at Sakura as if she was an intruder.

"Hey Yuuki. Why did you bring that kid here? I recognize her from a few days ago." Said Kandachi.

A vein throbbed on the side of Sakura's head at being referred to as a kid. Yuuki hesitated slightly before nodding, "Yes. About that...I am going to train her...her name is Sakura. I came to tell you that to train her I will have to leave for a while." Yuuki never showed much emotion in the time Sakura had seen her but she thought she could see a flash of sadness pass Yuuki's maroon eyes before disappearing as if it had never been there. Toki and Kandachi remained emotionless for a while but then as if reaching a conclusion, Toki nodded and said, "Fine. But..." Yuuki stared at him silently, "...But if you leave us. You will become our enemy." Yuuki's face darkened and she stared at both of them before gesturing towards the door. Sakura followed Yuuki out of the inn. They soon reached the crowds that reminded Sakura of the festivals in Konoha.

The left the village behind and continued travelling. Finally they stopped and Yuuki formed some hand seals and placed her hand on a tree in front of them. The tree seemed to be sending tremors into the ground as the ground opened up in front of them. Yuuki jumped into the opening and Sakura did the same. They both landed on the ground and Sakura looked up to see a hallway lit by torches. Yuuki walked forward and led the way through many different hallways. They arrived at a door and Yuuki gestured towards it. Sakura entered a plain room with a bed and a chest of drawers and also a couple of other necessities.

"You can sleep in here. If you need me, just spike your chakra." Said Yuuki. Sakura nodded and said, "Fine."

Yuuki left the room and Sakura looked around and realized there was no window. She sighed and placed the backpack she had packed after Sasuke left, on the bed. She lay down and sleep overcame her before she had even removed her weapons pouch.

Sakura suddenly awoke and she sat up quickly to see Yuuki standing at the end of the door. "I'll wait outside. We will begin training." Sakura nodded and rushed around before realizing that she had fallen asleep in everything she needed. She sighed and walked through a door at the end of her room that she was fairly certain led to a bathroom of some sort. She splashed her face and walked out of the door. Yuuki was waiting their and she walked down the winding corridors and reached a room which she entered. Sakura noticed that there was a metal table and on the table was a scroll on which lay a barely moving fish.

"Try healing it. I am sure you know how to bring the healing chakra to your hands. We will work on strengthening it." Said Yuuki.

Sakura approached the barely alive fish and she placed her hands above the fish. She scrunched her eyebrows and soon green healing chakra surrounded her hands. She spent a while trying to heal it until a bead of sweat appeared on her forehead. Suddenly the fish went into a small container that Sakura just noticed. It was filled with water and the fish was in there now fully healed.

Sakura turned to Yuuki with a smile on her face.

Yuuki stared at the container; _I haven't seen such talent in a long time._

Yuuki nodded her head approvingly and said, "Good."

Sakura felt as if her jaws were working harder than normal to form the smile.

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><p>Shikamaru knocked on Naruto's door. A sleepy Naruto opened the door complaining.<p>

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><p>"To achieve this you must focus your chakra into one point in your body and then release it." Yuuki demonstrated. She kicked a ball like item at Sakura. The ball hit Sakura so hard that it knocked the breath out of her as she hit the ground. <em>How...it's just a ball...<em>

Yuuki seemed to notice the confusion and curiosity in Sakura's eyes. "I released my chakra as I kicked the ball." Sakura began to understand but then Yuuki punched a wall and it crumbled, "I focused my chakra into my hand..." She then pressed her foot into the ground, "Focusing my chakra into my foot..."

Sakura stood up and shut her eyes while trying to concentrate her chakra into her hand. She punched the ground and opened her eyes. Her fist had caused damage similar to a mini earthquake. A weak imitation compared to Yuuki's damage but it was still a start. Yuuki seemed impressed at Sakura's first try.

Sakura punched the ground again without shutting her eyes. The same amount of damage was caused as the last time.

"Concentrate Sakura. Focus your chakra into your fist and then release it." Said Yuuki.

Sakura gritted her teeth and punched the ground.

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><p>"I see." Said Iruka. "Sounds like it'll be a long trip." Iruka ate some of his ramen, "Listen, make sure you train hard and don't slack off." Naruto turned to Iruka with a smile on his face, "Sure thing. Leave it to me!" They both dug into their bowls of ramen. Jiraiya pushed aside the sign that hung over the stall and said, "Let' get moving Naruto." Naruto turned to Jiraiya and said, "Okay." He drunk the rest of his ramen, "Well, I'll be on my way, Iruka-sensei. I'll pay for the ramen when I get stronger." Iruka sighed and said, "Geez!"<p>

Naruto and Jiraiya walked along the streets of Konoha towards the gates of Konoha. Iruka stared after them and smiled, _Good luck, Naruto. _

Naruto stopped walking and raised his hand towards the carving of the fourth Hokage's face in the cliff, "Just watch me." He clenched his fist and smiled. "What are you doing? I'll leave you behind, Naruto!" yelled Jiraiya. "Huh? W-W-W-Wait up!" Naruto ran after Jiraiya.

Hinata watched Naruto walk away; she smiled and blushed, "I must also work hard to catch up to Naruto-kun." Naruto and Jiraiya approached the gates of Konoha and Naruto smiled.

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><p>Sakura stood on a boulder by the sea. The water sprayed against her skin making her shiver slightly. Yuuki watched her from a distance and was about to call her name before realizing that Sakura was deep in her own thoughts. Yuuki turned around and walked away.<p>

Sakura wondered where Naruto and Sasuke were. No matter how much she tried to get rid of it, there was always a voice in her head that told her that she missed them. She missed the hyperactive, blonde ninja and she also missed the stoic Uchiha. She vaguely wondered what things would be like if they had never said what they did about her. _Would I still be in Konoha with them? _Sakura shook her head to rid herself of the naive thoughts. No matter how much she tried she was never able to act cold towards anyone. Her former, warm personality always peeked through her cold exterior somehow. She stepped down from the boulder. She had been looking in the direction of Konoha without realizing it. As she walked away from the boulder she thought, _Look after yourselves._

**A/N: Please review. Sorry for the late update. I've been really busy.**


	13. Chapter 12: Shadow

**Chapter 12**

**Shadow**

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please review.**

To say Sakura was concerned would be an understatement. Yuuki was a mysterious person but she seemed to be becoming more mysterious and distant. Sakura tried not to worry about it but it was hard.

On top of that, Sakura had hit a dilemma. She still wanted to care for her teammates and she couldn't quiet the voice in her conscience that told her to do so, but, the fact that Naruto hadn't come after her meant that he had gone after Sasuke instead.

It was now 3 weeks since she had left Konoha. She could notice the difference it had on her. She felt stronger and more capable. She just wished that she could have felt this way when she had been in Konoha. She could have fought _with _her teammates instead of standing and watching on the sidelines while feeling useless.

She lay staring at the stars outside the base. There was a small hill she had walked up to get where she was now.

Sakura could kind of see the truth in her teammate's words. The same words that had caused her to leave the village. She shifted slightly on the grass, _I was useless and I was a burden._ She clenched her eyes shut feeling her throat sting slightly but she willed the tears not to come. She opened her eyes, _but...they are my teammates...they should have told me and helped me rather than saying it behind my back... _Sakura did not use the past tense for her teammates. She had finally given into the voice that told her to continue caring for them, so she continued to refer to them as the teammates she still had.

Yuuki walked out of the base and she could feel Sakura's chakra nearby. She found her lying on the grass on top of a small hill. The moonlight reflected off of Sakura's skin giving it an almost eerie look and her hair looked almost purple.

Sakura opened her eyes and sat up when she felt Yuuki's chakra approaching. Yuuki came to stand beside Sakura and Sakura lay down again. Her eyes still open, she looked at Yuuki.

"We're moving bases." Said Yuuki looking at the horizon blanketed by darkness. "Now?" said Sakura. Yuuki nodded and Sakura sighed as she stood up. "You always come out at night, Sakura. Why?" said Yuuki. The question startled Sakura and she looked at the ground. "I prefer the darkness to the light...I can think in peace and it also reminds me of..." Sakura trailed off. Yuuki notice Sakura's hesitancy in continuing the topic and she smiled slightly realizing what Sakura was going to say. Yuuki nodded and Sakura took that her queue to get ready to move bases.

Sakura walked back inside and packed the things she had in her rucksack and she looked around the room to make sure she hadn't left anything. Yuuki was still waiting outside and she jumped into the trees and Sakura followed.

Three hours later, Yuuki raised a hand and Sakura stopped. It was still pitch black but Sakura could hear faint screams and a child crying. Yuuki jumped higher into the trees and stopped placing a finger on her lips. There were some ninja below and they had cornered a family. The mother was hugging her son it seemed and he was about 8 years old. "Not my son! Take me instead! Please leave my son! Please!" screamed the woman. The father it seemed was trying to protect the young girl who was crying and seemed about the age of 5.

Sakura was about to jump down towards them to help them but Yuuki grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. "Why? They need help. Who are those ninja anyway? What do they want with them?" whispered Sakura.

"They are sound ninja. They are getting slaves for Orochimaru's bases." Said Yuuki quietly. Sakura's eyes widened at the mention of Sound and Orochimaru and she looked back at the family, _Sasuke..._

One of the ninjas had managed to hit the fathers head off of a tree, knocking him unconscious. The other ninja injected the rest of the family with a sedative. The mother, son and daughter all slipped into unconsciousness. Sakura was about to leap down, but once again she felt one of Yuuki's hands grasp her shoulder, pulling her back. The ninjas lifted the each member of the family up and set off. Sakura threw a furious glance at Yuuki, "Why did you not let me save the-" Sakura was cut off by Yuuki, "It was not our place Sakura. I doubt that anyone outside of Konoha knows of your betrayal. Keep it that way." Sakura lowered her eyes at the mention of the word 'betrayal'.

Yuuki noticed this and released her shoulder and said, "Gomen Sakura. We can't risk it." Sakura didn't say anything as she followed Yuuki. She was wondering about Sasuke and how his life was now that he spent most of it training under the Sannin's watchful eyes that longed for the Sharingan.

When Yuuki stopped suddenly, Sakura was so deep in thought that she almost banged right into her. Sakura stopped and looked at Yuuki angrily, "Quit doing that!"

Yuuki turned around with amused eyes. Sakura answered the unasked question, "Stop stopping so suddenly!"

Yuuki raised an eyebrow and turned back towards the camouflaged base in front of them. She opened the wooden door and Sakura found herself in a corridor lit by flaming torches.

Sakura took a look around the base quickly before retreating to her room which again held only the bare necessities. She slid in between the covers and sighed. _How could the fate of one team be so cruel?_

She shifted into a more comfortable position and her eyes slowly drifted closed.

_Sakura eyes opened and she sat up. All she could see was darkness around her. She stood up and suddenly she saw Naruto standing in front of her. He turned around and walked away from her with his back facing her. "N...Naruto...Don't go!" she yelled. He continued walking and Sakura saw orange chakra begin to engulf him. If looked so evil. _

"_Naruto!" she yelled again but he continued walking further into the evil chakra. Tears streamed down her face and suddenly she felt a presence behind her and she spun around. Sasuke stood behind her. _

_He turned around and walked away from her. "Sasuke...Wait!" she yelled. She spun around and saw that Naruto was completely engulfed in the orange chakra._

_She turned back to Sasuke and watched as a shadow blanketed over him. She saw two figures materialize in front of him. _

_Sakura realized that one of them must be his brother as he also had the Sharingan. He looked somewhat similar to Sasuke. The other figure was a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds. His face was concealed behind an orange mask with one eyehole. All three of them were blanketed by a shadow although the man with the mask seemed to radiate evil and darkness. Sasuke reached them and turned around. _

_The look in his eyes had grown more evil and she felt the tears slide down her face. As all three turned around and began walking away from her, she caught a glimpse of the man with orange masks eyes. Her eyes widened as she saw the Sharingan. _

Sakura opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. She could feel her body shaking. _Who was that man with the mask? Sasuke...his eyes..._

No matter how hard she tried she could not fall asleep.

**A/N: Please review.**


	14. Chapter 13: Potent

**Chapter 13**

**Potent**

**A/N: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Please Review.**

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><p>"This brings back memories! This place hasn't changed at all!" Naruto stood on top of a pole, looking around Konoha. He was back from his two year training with Jiraiya. "Everyone, Uzumaki Naruto has returned!" said Naruto punching the air in front of him.<p>

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><p>Sakura and Yuuki leapt from tree to tree. "Sakura." Said Yuuki. Sakura turned towards Yuuki. "Akatsuki's on the move. Be careful from now on! They wear black cloaks with red clouds on them!" Sakura's eyes widened as she remembered the dream she had around 2 years ago.<p>

_The other figure was a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds. His face was concealed behind an orange mask with one eyehole. All three of them were blanketed by a shadow although the man with the mask seemed to radiate evil and darkness. Sasuke reached them and turned around._

_The look in his eyes had grown more evil and she felt the tears slide down her face. As all three turned around and began walking away from her, she caught a glimpse of the man with orange masks eyes. Her eyes widened as she saw the Sharingan. _

Sakura bit her lip. Yuuki seemed to notice this and asked, "What's wrong?" Sakura shook her head and said, "Nothing!"

Sakura's appearance had changed. She had kept her short hair. She had grown taller and had also changed her attire. She now wore mesh armour underneath a sleeveless black dress with a black blouse over it and a midnight blue sash around her waist. She also wore midnight blue hand warmers, leg guards and black gloves.

**A/N: The outfit I am talking about is almost the exact same that Temari wore at the five Kage summit. Temari only wore this outfit in the five Kage summit. The only thing different about Sakura's is the colour of the sash, hand warmers and leg guards. Check my profile for a picture.**

"I've recently heard that Orochimaru is growing weaker. It may not be seen at the moment but its definite." Added Yuuki watching Sakura for her reaction. Sakura's eyes widened and suddenly Sakura remembered the last mission for Konoha she had done.

_As far as Sakura could make out of the writing, the paper explained of a jutsu. Sakura could not tell what it was. She decided that she would try to decipher the writing when they went back to Konoha. She placed the paper carefully back into the book. She opened up her rucksack and placed the book inside._

_A twig snapped outside and she froze. She silently stood up and headed outside. Kakashi had dropped out of the tree and was scanning the dark forest around them._

"_Did you hear that?" asked Sakura, walking to Kakashi's side._

_Kakashi nodded, while his only visible eye scanned the forest._

"_You should head back inside. It was probably nothing." Sakura nodded and walked back to the tent._

_Before she entered she thought she saw a flash of purple, but she quickly dismissed the thought._

The purple flash had been Orochimaru or Kabuto checking up on Sasuke's progress. Sakura gritted her teeth. _Why didn't I figure it out before?_

Sakura stopped and reached took her rucksack off. She placed it on the tree and rummaged inside it before pulling out the old medical ninjutsu. She opened it at the right page and stared at the piece of paper that still lay in between the worn pages of the equally worn book. She placed the book away and stood up.

Yuuki seemed curious about the paper. Sakura noticed this and said, "I'll tell you soon." Yuuki nodded and set off again.

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><p>"Sensei, you haven't changed at all!" Naruto leaped out of the window on to the ledge beneath it. Kakashi sat there with a red book in his hand.<p>

"Ah, that's right! Look here, look here!" Naruto rummaged in his weapons pouch. "I have a present for you, Kakashi-sensei!"

Tsunade walked towards the window and said, "This is such a nostalgic sight, isn't it?"

"It is." Said Shizune who stood beside her.

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Nani?" His hands shook. "Y-you...Th-Th-This is..."

The book in Naruto's hand was titled, "Make-out tactics".

"You see, This is the first new book from the Make-out Paradise series in three years! It's really boring. But you like it, don't you, sensei?"

Jiraiya folded his arms and turned away affronted, "The fool! Like a brat like him would understand just how interesting it is! And that one hasn't even been put into circulation yet!"

Kakashi opened the book and gasped. "Okay! Stop goofing off now, Kakashi." Said Tsunade while walking back to her desk. Kakashi snapped the book shut and stood up.

"Tsunade, I have something to tell you first." Tsunade looked up. "Do you remember that mission about Sakura that you assigned me to? I had to find out what was wrong." Continued Kakashi. Naruto's eyes widened and he said, "Nani? What mission? What are you talking about?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto and then back at Tsunade, "Yare, Yare!"

"Tell him Kakashi." Said Tsunade folding her hands in front of her face.

"Naruto do you remember that day that Ino invited all of us to eat some barbecue and said that Asuma would pay?" Naruto nodded. "Well, that day...do you remember talking about Sakura?..." Naruto looked down and said, "Hai!"

"I think Sakura might have heard what we said. I saw something pink at the next table but I didn't realize it was Sakura." Said Kakashi.

Naruto clenched his fists and said, "We...We never should have said that about her..."

"I ended up following her after a while. I followed her chakra and she was at the Hokage tower. She was at your door Tsunade-sama. Did you say anything about her?" Tsunade was deep in thought. "By saying something, do you mean something she wouldn't like?" Kakashi nodded and Tsunade exchanged a glance with Shizune and they both nodded.

"Well, that's it then! She must have heard..." said Kakashi.

Tsunade nodded in understanding, "We can't do anything now...They're gone...Sasuke and Sakura." She looked at Naruto for his reaction. He was clenching his fists to the point that his knuckles became white and he was gritting his teeth. "W...What have I done?...I will bring you back, Sasuke...Sakura..."

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><p>Sakura sat down on the edge of her bed and sighed. <em>What is going on?<em>

She pulled out the piece of paper from the book. It was aging, brown and wrinkly. The writing was hard to read but with time she managed to decipher it.

The paper explained of a technique used long ago. It was used by medical-nins and it allowed you to make your chakra more potent. Potent enough to kill somebody.

Sakura walked outside and saw Yuuki. She trudged over to her and held out the piece of paper.

"Is this what you were looking at earlier?" said Yuuki taking the delicate paper into her hands. Sakura nodded while Yuuki read it.

Yuuki handed the paper back to her once she was one reading it. "Once you've learned the technique ...Destroy the paper!" said Yuuki.

Sakura looked at Yuuki with eyes that asked the obvious.

Yuuki sighed and said, "You have to get rid of it because that technique should not get into the wrong hands."

"By wrong hands, who do you mean?" questioned Sakura.

"Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Mada-" Yuuki stopped and said, "You understand."

Sakura nodded while slightly curious about the person Yuuki had begun to mention.

**A/N: Please review.**


	15. Chapter 14: Progress

**Chapter 14**

**Progress**

**A/N: I know that everyone is wondering where Sasuke and Sasusaku is. It will come soon. This is all building up to the whole story. **

**I want to thank everyone for their reviews.**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. **

**Please review.**

* * *

><p>Sakura gasped at the pain that surged through her body. <em>What?...<em>

She was trying to master the technique she had found. She had already managed to summon the chakra to her hands but after a mere few seconds, her own chakra began sending waves of pain through her body.

She looked at her hands which were shaking slightly at the pain.

Yuuki walked through the door and Sakura shoved the paper away and pretended to look innocent.

Yuuki seemed to be too worried to notice. Sakura's face turned from one of innocence to curiosity.

"What is it?" questioned Sakura.

"...Sasori of the red sand has been killed. He was a member of Akatsuki." Said Yuuki.

Sakura still seemed confused, "How is this relevant to us?"

"Apparently he gave away some important information to the Konoha Shinobi who defeated him," Sakura's eyes widened at the word Konoha, "and the information was about Orochimaru. I have information that tells me that they will be headed near here. They were told that today is the day that a spy would meet them on the Bridge of heaven and earth at noon."

Sakura's eyes widened and she nodded in understanding. "We must leave this place now." Said Yuuki.

"How long do we have left?" asked Sakura while packing everything into a rucksack. "Two hours at most. Hurry...I will wait outside." Yuuki left the room

Sakura finished and exited the base. Yuuki and Sakura set off.

Sakura estimated that it had been at least 1 and a half hours since they left the base. They were nearing the Bridge of heaven and earth when Sakura stopped.

Yuuki turned around and said, "Is something wrong?"

"I...Can we just...just go a bit closer?" Yuuki drew her eyebrows together but seemed to understand.

She shook her head and said, "Sakura...we can't..."

"Please...just a bit closer...until I can see..." said Sakura. The desperation was clear in her voice. "Please...just let me..."

"...Fine...Only close enough to see and hear...not any closer...meet me at the inn in the village hidden in stars. Do you know where it is?" said Yuuki finally.

Sakura nodded and Yuuki leapt away.

Sakura descended to the ground and bean running east as fast as she could. In barely 5 minutes she arrived there and leapt into a tree.

Her eyes widened at the sight.

A body lay in the middle. It was obviously a clone and it was made of wood. _Wood element...the first Hokage... _Beside it was an Akatsuki cloak. On one side of the bridge was Hinata and two people she didn't recognize. She assumed that Hinata was her replacement. She didn't see Kakashi anywhere and she decided that the man in the Jounin uniform must be his replacement. Her gaze landed on a boy with pale skin and black hair. He looked like Sasuke and she realized that he must be Sasuke's replacement.

Orochimaru stood on another side of the bridge and her eyebrows scrunched together while she tried to figure out what was going on. Kabuto stood beside the discarded Akatsuki cloak. Finally, her eyes landed on Naruto. He had grown up. _He must be taller than me now. _

She laughed inwardly at this and looked at him fondly. Then her eyes widened in alarm as she noticed that his whole body was cloaked with orange chakra. Her mind recalled the dream she had 2 years ago.

_Sakura eyes opened and she sat up. All she could see was darkness around her. She stood up and suddenly she saw Naruto standing in front of her. He turned around and walked away from her with his back facing her. "N...Naruto...Don't go!" she yelled. He continued walking and Sakura saw orange chakra begin to engulf him. If looked so evil._

"_Naruto!" she yelled again but he continued walking further into the evil chakra. _

She leapt closer to the scene in the hope of hearing something. She was now only a few trees away from the bridge with her chakra carefully masked. She watched as Orochimaru walked forward and she managed to hear them all talk.

"That's why they placed you in charge of him. It appears my experiments benefited Konoha, after all." Said Orochimaru.

Sakura's eyes widened at hearing this, _Experiments? _

"One would think my old village would've been more grateful to me? Don't you agree, my adorable little lab rat?"

_Okay, that was creepy! _Thought Sakura amused and freaked out as well. She leapt a little closer in the few seconds that her gaze was elsewhere the bridge snapped in the middle.

Hinata lay unconscious and her body began sliding off the bridge. Her body finally fell off and she saw Orochimaru's adorable little lab rat form hand signs. Sakura bit her lip as she watched some wooden pillars hold the bridge and Hinata up. Hinata still lay perilously close to falling off.

Sakura's gaze turned to the pale skinned boy, who was now writing on a scroll with a brush.

"Ninpou, Coujuu Giga!" she heard him say. A bird flew out of the scroll and he jumped on to it.

"Sai, catch Hinata!" Orochimaru's lab rat yelled.

Sai completely ignored him and flew upwards after Orochimaru and Naruto. Sakura leapt out of her hiding place and caught Hinata before landing beside the lab rat.

She was confused as to why the boy would leave his teammate. She couldn't help but think that Sai had another motive. He seemed to emotionless from what Sakura had seen. Kind of fake as well.

From her time in Konoha she had learned that only Root members were like that. Tsunade had told her. She also knew that Danzou was the founder and that Tsunade was weary of him.

"Who are you?" said the lab rat.

Sakura lay Hinata down and said, "You must be Kakashi-sen-...I mean Kakashi's replacement."

The man seemed weary of her but he must have realized that this information would cause no harm, so he nodded.

"I guess introductions are in order then," Sakura knew she was being foolish by saying all this, "My name is Sakura Haruno." She nodded at him.

The lab rat's eyes widened as she said this, "So...your Naruto's former teammate. The one who betrayed him...Other that Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura looked down and said, "I'm not his former teammate. I'm his teammate."

"Then you are correct. I am Yamato, Kakashi's replacement for this mission. We only came to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke and take him back to Konoha, but I guess I should take you back you too."

Sakura took a step back and shook her head. "I am sorry...but I cannot retur-" An explosion was heard from the direction Orochimaru and Naruto had gone. Sakura and Yamato spun around.

Hinata's eyes opened after a while and she sat up slightly.

"Are you all right?" said Yamato, kneeling down beside her and helping her up.

"Y-yes..." said Hinata. She clutched the back of her head. "Careful!" said Yamato.

"S-sorry. I'm fine n-now." stuttered Hinata with a weak smile. She turned slightly and spotted Sakura.

"S-Sakura-san...W-what are you doing here?" she gasped.

"Long story!" said Sakura still looking in the direction of the explosion.

"Um...I think I should go!" said Sakura coming to her senses, "but...I have to go help Naruto first." She continued.

Hinata broke into a relieved smile, "Sakura-san, a-are y-you coming back?"

Sakura shook her head and said, "I'm not but I need you to give something to Tsunade for me."

Hinata looked hesitant but then nodded.

Sakura reached into her rucksack and took out a blank scroll and a brush. She dipped the brush into some ink and wrote something in the scroll.

Once she had sealed the scroll she handed it to Hinata and said, "I'm counting on you."

Sakura jumped off before Yamato got the chance to trap her with his wood element.

Sakura quickened her pace and arrived where Naruto and Orochimaru were.

**A/N: Please review**


	16. IMPORTANT! Please read this full message

**IMPORTANT! Please read this full message!**

**Please review and tell me if you excited!**

**The story idea that I told you all about in Chapter 6 will not be written because of reasons that will be revealed in upcoming chapters. **

**I deleted my other story "I'm not weak" due to complications. I am sorry for those of you who liked that story.**

**Although in the place of that story I have decided to write a new story which I hope you will all like. The plotline is better thought out than "I'm not weak".**

**The beginning of this new story will be slightly similar to the beginning of "Weaker and Weaker", although the plotline will be very different.**

**I am not going to give a summary as I would like to build suspense.**

**Please note that I will continue my current story, "Weaker and Weaker".**

**Please look out for this new stories first chapter. It will be released at midnight tonight. Sayonara!**


	17. Chapter 15: Two of the Team

**Chapter 15**

**Two of the team**

**PLEASE READ!**

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new story, "In the Shadows."**

**Due to people requesting that I still continue the story mentioned in Chapter 6, I may write it.**

**All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. **

**Please review.**

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><p>Sakura's eyes widened at the sight. A massive crater had been formed in the ground and rubble lay everywhere.<p>

Sakura saw Naruto except he didn't look like Naruto at all. In his place was a fox-like creature with four tails. The skin was orange and black, almost like lava. The eyes of the creature were white and the face was black. Orochimaru stood not far off, surveying Naruto. Sai also stood not far off and then suddenly the creature roared.

Sakura gasped and shivered then she narrowed her eyes. No matter what happened she knew that Naruto was still in there somewhere.

Orochimaru opened his mouth and snakes flew out. The snakes had swords protruding from their mouths.

Naruto slammed a fist down on the ground and a shockwave made Sakura have to lift an arm to stop herself from flying backwards.

Sakura decided it was time to intervene. She jumped out from her hiding place and landed in directly in the middle of the space between Orochimaru and Naruto.

Orochimaru looked at the Sakura and his long tongue protruded from his mouth and licked his lips, "Ah, Sakura. The weakling of team 7," Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously, "Nice of you to join us. Two of team 7 facing me. I'm sure Sasuke-kun would like to hear of this."

Naruto didn't seem to notice that Sakura was there, or he was to consumed by evil to notice. He roared at the mention of Sasuke's name.

Sakura continued to glare at Orochimaru. They had been too busy staring at each other to notice what Naruto was doing. A chakra infused, purple ball had formed at the entrance of Naruto's mouth. The ball shrunk and Sakura and Orochimaru thought the same thing, _This is getting dangerous!_

A shock wave came from Naruto and Sakura and Orochimaru jumped backwards. Naruto moved forward and swallowed the ball of condensed chakra.

Naruto suddenly expanded slightly and Sakura fought the urge to laugh. He looked bloated.

Naruto's stomach continued expanding and Sakura watched Orochimaru bite both of his thumbs. Suddenly orange chakra came shooting out of Naruto's mouth so fast that it looked like fire. Orochimaru placed both his hands on the ground and said, "Sanjou Rashoumon!"

Rocks came flying out of the ground as three gates appeared in front of Orochimaru.

The Orange chakra hit the first gate and exploded in front of that causing a shockwave to explode from that point outwards.

Suddenly a sword protruded from the ground in front of Naruto and hit his stomach forcing him backwards. A snake was attached to the end and it protruded from Orochimaru's head which sat upon a long, flexible looking neck. The sword forced Naruto back to the bridge so Sakura jumped off in that direction.

When she arrived she saw that Naruto had formed a crater where he had landed. He held the sword in his lava hands, trying to force it out. Naruto grabbed the sword and sent it sideways towards Kabuto. Kabuto jumped over it and Yamato grabbed Hinata and moved her out of the way.

"Instead of a battle between ninja, this is more like one between monsters." Said Kabuto. Sakura narrowed her eyes and punched him. He flew backwards into a tree, which broke. She appeared in front of him before grabbing his collar and shaking him, "Don't call Naruto a monster. Orochimaru, yes, but not Naruto." She threw him down and walked back to Yamato and Hinata.

Naruto roared and Kabuto stood up and said, "Did he want to save Sasuke-kun so badly that he was willing to turn into that?"

Sakura remembered the time that Naruto had portrayed his way of the ninja and tears formed in her yes. She rubbed them away angrily.

"He's even lost control of his own body. What a sad child." Said Kabuto.

Sakura watched Naruto in his crouching position. She could almost see Naruto inside the Kyuubi somewhere, lonely. Her tears dried and she punched Kabuto again as a way to vent her anger.

Suddenly Sakura ran forward and punched the Kyuubi hard. Naruto flew backwards into a tree.

"Naruto! That's enough! Are you telling me that I came all the way here just to watch you like this? Remember who you are, Naruto!

Sakura grabbed Hinata-who had run after Sakura-and pulled her out of the way as one of Naruto's tails attempted to hit her. Yamato used his wood element which wrapped around all of Naruto.

Kabuto walked forward and stretched his hand out to touch Hinata's arm where Naruto's tail had scraped her. Yamato's wood jutsu wrapped around Kabuto feet and outstretched hand as well.

"I don't think so!" said Yamato. "Don't jump to conclusions. I don't see the need for us to fight anymore. Just the opposite, in fact." Said Kabuto.

"What do you mean?" said Yamato angrily. Green chakra formed around Kabuto's hand and wormed its way towards Hinata's injured arm. Her arm began healing and Sakura said, "Don't even think about!"

"How can you stop me? I'm healing her." said Kabuto while smirking. Sakura glared at him and said, "Don't underestimate!"

"Who wouldn't underestimate the weak link of team 7!" said Kabuto scathingly while continuing to heal Hinata.

Black chakra formed around Sakura's hand and she lowered her hand towards Kabuto's gree chakra. Her black chakra began entwining itself around Kabuto's chakra and travelling upwards until it reached his arm. When it reached his arm it dissolved into his skin. "Is that all you've go-" Kabuto began choking and he fell to the ground. Yamato's wood jutsu released him and he lay on the floor coughing. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose. His arm turned black.

"What did you do?" he gasped in between coughs. Sakura tapped her nose and winked saying, "It's a secret!"

In truth Sakura was shocked by how much damage this jutsu could do. She hadn't even fully learned it. Kabuto's arms gradually returned to their normal colour but he still coughed up blood. Sakura remembered that Naruto had said that when he had fought against Kabuto while looking for Tsunade.

"_Kabuto said something about being able to send his chakra to the place a person is aiming at before they attach. So when he is attacked, it heals itself." Said Naruto._

Sakura narrowed her eyes and helped Hinata up. "Hinata, make sure he stays down."

Yamato leapt into the air and said, "Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu."

He stretched his hand out and formed a claw shape with his hand while saying, "Kakuan Nitten Suishi.!"

He jumped forwards and pressed the palm of his hand in the centre of Naruto's chest. The area began glowing green and he pulled his hand away while dragging out a blue chakra stream.

Wooden pillars with spikes surrounded Naruto. Naruto's hands began returning to normal as the lava like chakra burned away. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw Naruto's skin. It was burned red. Naruto fell to the ground and the wooden pillars receded.

"It's over!" said Yamato.

Yamato ran towards Naruto and Hinata looked as if she wanted to as well but she refrained, as she knew that she had to keep Kabuto down.

Sakura walked towards Naruto and kneeled down beside him. Yamato was examining him. She reached out her hand and Yamato turned a sharp stare towards her. Sakura stopped and said, "I'm his teammate. I won't hurt him!" She reached out and cupped his cheek, stroking it. Yamato kept his gaze on her in case she tried something.

Her hand began glowing green as she healed him. The redness began fading away.

"Ne, Sakura right? Why did you leave Konoha if you still consider Naruto your teammate?" said Yamato.

"The real reasons I cannot tell you. I'm sure you will find out eventually but no matter what happens...I will always consider Naruto and Sasuke my teammates! The only things I could do back then were small and insignificant. I guess I deserved what they said, It was my fault after all...I was weak!" said Sakura. Her chakra flared in her hands.

"But...I never thought that they weren't my teammates. I miss them...Both of them." The words just kept tumbling out of her mouth and she couldn't stop. "Sometimes I wish we could be a normal team...like everyone...but that is not meant to be...the fate of our team is cruel and because of that each member of our team suffers." Sakura bit her lip but continued, "But I know that if we were a normal team...we wouldn't be driven to save the other as much. So, I know that in the end...everything will be just fine!"

She scrunched her eyebrows and frown lines appeared on her forehead. She plastered a fake smile on her face and turned to Yamato, "But don't tell Naruto that."

"Sakura, I can tell just by looking at you. You really a-" Yamato was interrupted by a groan from Naruto.

He shifted and opened his eyes blearily before sitting up. Sakura stood up and was about to leave when a hand enclosed around her ankle.

"...Sakura-chan..."

**A/N: Please review.**


	18. Chapter 16: Selfishness

**Chapter 16**

**Selfishness**

**A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing. It means a lot to me.**

**I also want to give a special thanks to the people who have been with this story since the beginning:**

**Minato-kun lover**

**Shana176534**

**Awsomness182**

**Sundance189**

**Immortal-puppet-Otaku**

**Deidara luver **

**Mdtiger**

**Mednin**

**Prinsesita100**

**Thank you so much for staying with me through this journey. Thank you to everyone else for your reviews. **

**This story is going to become more Sasusaku in about 3 chapters.**

**I know that there are a lot of people who read the story and don't review. Please review as it means so much.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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><p>Sakura had the sudden urge to kill Naruto when he awoke for calling her weak. This was the first time she had talked to him or seen him for two year, and over that time her anger had accumulated.<p>

She pulled her ankle out of his grasp and began walking away. She heard a groan as he tried to sit up to fast and then she felt a hand on her shoulder. The grip was tight as if it was trying to see if she wasn't an illusion and that she was solid.

"S-Sakura-chan...Is that really you?" said Naruto as if afraid of the answer. Sakura turned around and was met with cerulean, blue eyes.

They were filled with an emotion that Sakura did not know and a flash of guilt snaked through her before she shook his hand off and said, "Don't touch me!"

She knew that her words were cruel but so were his words two years ago.

_He deserves it!_ She continued telling herself that.

"But Sakura-chan...Im sorry Sakura, for everything I did! You have no idea how much I regret it now! I'm so sorry! Come home, please!" yelled Naruto despairingly.

Sakura looked at him coldly and said, "Naruto, tell me! That day that I left...Sasuke left as well. When you found out...you went after Sasuke didn't you?"

Naruto froze and looked at her as if he didn't know how to answer.

Sakura knew what he was thinking. It was as if she was making him choose...Sasuke or herself.

"I have no intention of making you choose sides. Go after Sasuke and leave me!" She wasn't asking him to stop looking for her, she was ordering him to. She knew that he never would leave her. After all Kakashi had taught them,

_Flashback_

"_In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."_

_Flashback_

That is what they had done. They had abandoned her...their comrade. They may not have abandoned her physically but mentally, it was as if they had. Wasn't it only fair that she did the same? Could she not be selfish as well? Just once?

"Naruto, isn't it only fair that I abandon you. After all, you abandoned me. Didn't you? You betrayed me and because of that I betrayed the village." Said Sakura.

"You came here to look for Sasuke. So continue looking for Sasuke. There's no use wasting your time with me, after all, I'm useless on missions and I beat you up more than actually doing anything useful, Don't I?" said Sakura quietly.

Naruto opened his mouth but nothing came out. Sakura was using his own words against him. _Serves him right!_

Sakura was actually confused. She had wanted to see him for Naruto so long but when she did she could do nothing but throw cruel words at him.

Sakura began walking again and was pleased to see -and a little hurt- that he didn't try to stop her.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Sakura heard Naruto yell.

Clones appeared in front of Sakura. "I'm not going to give up on you Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto.

Sakura sent a small flow of chakra out from her feet, through the ground and into the clones bodies. They didn't seem to notice the small flow of black chakra making its way through their body.

Two of the Naruto clones formed a rasengan and ran at her. Sakura jumped backwards and landed behind a tree. Another clone appeared behind her and rushed at her with a kunai.

To everyone else it looked as though Sakura hadn't noticed the clone behind her, but she had. When the clone's kunai was a mere couple of inches away from her, she smirked.

The Naruto clones all collapsed on to the ground and began coughing up blood. One by one they disappeared.

"What?...How did you..." Naruto trailed off.

"Naruto, she used the same technique on Kabuto!" yelled Yamato.

"Do yourself a favour Naruto. Don't bother coming after me again! Humph...what's the point? You won't even listen to any of my warning! But do listen to this! Do not mention your meeting with me to Sasuke when you find him! He probably doesn't even know that I left Konoha! I'd like to keep it that way!" said Sakura.

She disappeared.

"Sakura!" Tears trailed down Naruto's cheeks, "I failed again..."

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><p>Sakura sat down with her back against a tree. "Amazing! I didn't even use too much chakra and that jutsu did so much damage to so many clones!" Sakura muttered to herself.<p>

Sakura narrowed her eyes and took out a kunai.

Orochimaru appeared from behind a tree.

"What do you want?" questioned Sakura angrily.

"Ah! Sakura-chan, I just came to say goodbye! I already escorted Sai to the base! He didn't get much of a welcome though, considering that Sasuke-kun put a genjutsu on him!" said Orochimaru maliciously.

"I knew there was something weird about him!" said Sakura, not letting her guard down.

Sakura chucked the kunai at Orochimaru. She knew that it wouldn't do any good but it helped to cover up the confusion on her face.

Orochimaru dodged the kunai and said, "Yes! Danzou's really is an old rat, isn't he? Conspiring with the enemy for his own gain!"

"Get to the point already. What do you want?" snarled Sakura.

"Sakura-chan. I just wanted to talk! You definitely have grown from that weak kunoichi you used to be." Said Orochimaru.

"Cut the crap!" said Sakura, losing her temper.

"The time is approaching for me to use my take my next vessel, in other words, Sasuke-kun." Said Orochimaru licking his lips.

"Get to the point already!" said Sakura annoyed.

"Don't get in my way!" said Orochimaru.

He was about to leave but Sakura called out, "Wait!"

Orochimaru turned around.

"I'll make a deal with you!" said Sakura putting away her kunai. "I won't get in your way if you make sure that Sasuke doesn't find out about my leaving the village!"

Orochimaru laughed, "Well, well Sakura-chan! It sounds as if your afraid of being known as a traitor. I'll keep my end of the bargain!" With that said, Orochimaru disappeared.

Sakura grinned. _Orochimaru may think that I didn't lose my loyalty. He's wrong...I've changed!_

**A/N: Please review.**


	19. Chapter 17: Uchiha Madara

**Chapter 17**

**Uchiha Madara**

**A/N: It's getting to the good part now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Please review.**

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><p>A couple of months later. Sakura and Yuuki were sitting at a restaurant and Yuuki broke the silence by saying, "I have received information from a reliable source saying that Uchiha Sasuke killed Orochimaru two days ago."<p>

Sakura almost choked on her noodles in her hurry to say something. "W-what? What do you mean killed? Did he go back to Konoha?" hissed Sakura.

Yuuki shook her head, "He did not go back Konoha. I believe he is going after his brother, Uchiha Itachi. He had formed a team."

A part of Sakura ached when she heard that Sasuke had formed a team. _What about me...and Naruto? We were his team first!_

It sounded childish in her head. She stood up and left the restaurant. Yuuki watched as Sakura entered the forest and disappeared from sight. She followed an hour later.

She saw countless uprooted and snapped trees lying in the forest. A result of Sakura, obviously.

* * *

><p>"From what you reported about the number of people, It's most likely the hidden leaf. Akatsuki always works in two-man cells." Said Sasuke while putting his cloak on.<p>

"Which means an ambush would be a waste of time." Said Suigetsu.

"Exactly. Forget the Hidden Leaf." Said Sasuke.

"The what'll we do?" said Sasuke.

"Itachi is our only priority. Once we locate him, worst comes to worst, you three must stop the Hidden leaf. For now team Hebi will use the information gathered by Jugo, and check out Akatsuki hideouts one by one." He showed them a scroll with the Akatsuki hideouts marked on it.

"All right..." said Karin.

"Let's go."

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><p>Kiba faltered slightly and Naruto asked, "What's wrong, Kiba?"<p>

"Shoot, Sasuke is starting to move!" said Kiba with panic evident in his voice.

"Let's hurry! Sasuke is going after Itachi!" said Naruto, picking up his speed.

"Hold it, something's wrong! Sasuke's scent is dispersing. Not only that, it's scattering in all directions!" said Kiba.

"He's on to us. Taking strategic action." Said Kakashi.

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><p>Yuuki burst into Sakura's inn room and said, "We're moving. Sasuke and the Konoha are heading this way!"<p>

Sakura stood up, effectively knocking over a pile of scrolls in the process, "What? Are they together?"

"No! It seems that Konoha is chasing after Sasuke! Quickly get ready! We leave in 5 minutes!" said Yuuki.

Sakura nodded and gathered everything up before leaving the room.

She kind of wanted to confront them but at the same time she desperately wanted to avoid it.

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><p>A shadow stood behind a tree.<p>

Naruto stood behind another tree, _Who's that?_

Then Naruto spotted the Sharingan. _Sharingan? Sasuke?_

The figure stepped out from the shadows.

Naruto's eyes widened, _Uchiha...Itachi!_

"Come on out...Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto came out from behind the trees, "You've come to capture me?"

"No...I didn't. I just came to talk to you.

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><p>Yuuki and Sakura leapt through the trees. Yuuki was a skilled sensor-ninja and she could feel Sasuke's chakra not far behind them. Far enough so that they weren't seen.<p>

Later, Yuuki finally felt Sasuke's chakra go in another direction. They settled in a village inn.

"There's no doubt about it! Itachi and Sasuke will fight today." Said Yuuki as they sat in the inn.

Sakura didn't say anything.

"When the time comes, I will take you to meet my superior Sakura." Said Yuuki calmly.

Sakura looked up and narrowed her eyes. _I have a bad feeling about this..._

Sakura stood up and was about to open the door when Yuuki said, "Don't destroy the forest to vent your anger this time!"

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><p>Itachi opened his eyes as Sasuke stood in front of him.<p>

"What do you see with that Sharingan of yours?" said Itachi while sitting in the stone chair.

"What do I see? With these eyes of mine, there's one thing I can see clearly...Itachi, I see your death. " said Sasuke.

"My death?" said Itachi, "Well, then..." Itachi appeared behind Sasuke, "Try to make it happen."

Sasuke smirked and thrust his arm backwards in time to stop a kunai in Itachi's hand.

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><p>A while later, Sakura sat outside completely drenched in rain. <em>Sasuke, what's happening right now?<em>

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><p>Rain pounded against Itachi's body on the ground. Sasuke focused his eyes on him. Some blood on his forehead trailed into his eyes. Blood leaked out from the corner of his eyes. Sasuke didn't know if there were tears mixed in the blood.<p>

A flash of lightning illuminated his face.

He closed his eyes and fell sideways where he lay beside Itachi.

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><p>What looked like a plant shot out of the tree next to Tobi.<p>

"How'd it go?" questioned Tobi in his childish voice.

"It's over." Said Zetsu.

"W-what...is he?" said Hinata.

"He's in the Akatsuki file that Kabuto left us.

"More of them just keep getting in our way!" yelled Naruto, frustrated.

"Sasuke won. Uchiha Itachi is dead." Informed Zetsu.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"That's unbelievable!" stated Tobi flailing his arms around childishly, "...or not." _It's just as I thought._

Tobi turned away and they were about to leave. Kakashi's eyes widened as he saw a glimpse of the Sharingan through the eye hole in Tobi's mask.

"I shall continue my fight with you another time." Stated Tobi in a much deeper voice.

_That's...a sharingan?_

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><p>Sakura closed her eyes and looked up at the still raining sky.<p>

"What happened?" yelled Sakura frustrated at waiting so long to find out who had won the battle.

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><p>"I can still pick up traces of their scent, but..." Kiba trailed off.<p>

"We were too late." Said Kakashi.

Naruto clenched his teeth as he stood in front of the Uchiha sign on some rubble.

"Why?" Naruto placed the palms of his hands on the Uchiha sign, "Why is it that I can never reach Sasuke?"

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><p>Sasuke opened his eyes and saw a rocky, uneven roof above him.<p>

"I've treated your wounds." A voice echoed around the cave

Sasuke sat up and looked around.

"You won." Said the same voice, "Although you've suffered quite a bit of damage yourself. You shouldn't overexert your body like that.

A man with an orange mask walked out of the shadows with a woman trailing behind him.

"We've met once before. We were enemies then but you can now forget what happened with Deidara. I'm not your enemy anymore." Said Madara.

Sasuke looked at him and the woman. She looked familiar and Sasuke remembered that two years ago, he had an encounter with her.

_Flashback_

_A woman also followed. She had brown hair and maroon eyes. She did not look as strange as the other two but she looked a lot more mysterious._

"_Who are you and what do you want?" said Kakashi calmly._

"_I think you know what we want. We want the scrolls, but firstly, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Toki. This is," he gestured to the man on his left, "Kandachi and this is," he nodded to the woman on his left, "Yuuki."_

_Flashback_

"I bought you here because there's something I wish to talk to you about." Continued Madara.

Sasuke stared at his Futon. "You don't seem too interested." Said Madara, "Then how about I phrase it differently for you so you'll want to hear me out? It's about Uchiha Itachi."

Sasuke eyes scrunched together slightly for the briefest of seconds and his eyes averted towards Madara slightly.

"That's right...You believe that you know so much about your brother and yet you really know nothing. Well, okay then I guess I'll start by introducing myself first." Madara reached up to his mask and was about to remove it when Yuuki interrupted saying, "Madara, don't show the boy. I know what you want but you can't place such a bur-" "Yuuki, enough." Madara silenced Yuuki and proceeded to remove his mask. As he placed his hands on it he said, "After all. Aren't you deceiving your student." He said it as if he already knew.

Yuuki looked down at the floor. "That's right..." said Madara.

He removed the side of his mask.

"Like you, I am a living remnant of the Uchiha clan..." Sasuke looked up.

"...and the one who knows the truth about Uchiha Itachi." Sasuke eyes flashed Crimson and formed the mangekyou.

Madara stepped back and said, "It can't be!" Black flames erupted on his side.

He dropped his mask and fell backwards into the shadows. Sasuke placed a hand over his eye and his chest.

Sasuke's chest heaved up and down as his breath quickened. His eyes returned to the normal Sharingan.

"What...was that just now?" asked Sasuke.

He waited for an answer but when none came from Madara, Yuuki answered. "That was the Amaterasu that Itachi implanted in you..."

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><p>Sakura walked into the inn. She had been searching for Yuuki for a while now, but her chakra was nowhere nearby.<p>

Sakura shrugged and walked into her room.

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><p><strong><span>AN: Please review.**


	20. Chapter 18: Superior

**Chapter 18**

**Superior**

**A/N: Enjoy this chapter. The information about the Uchiha clan was taken from Narutopedia.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Please review.**

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><p>Sakura twisted and turned in her futon trying to fall asleep. She froze when she heard the window open quietly. She grabbed a kunai that she kept with her at all times.<p>

She twisted around and lunged with her kunai but found that the person had disappeared.

"Sakura, it's just me!" said Yuuki.

Sakura put her kunai away and turned around saying, "Where were you all day?"

"I had some business to attend to." Said Yuuki. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I also need to talk to you about something..." continued Yuuki.

Sakura crossed her arms and waited.

"It's about...Uchiha Madara..." said Yuuki. Sakura's eyes widened, "Didn't he die when he fought the first Hokage at the Valley of the End?"

"No. He is still alive but is now a pathetic shell of his former self. Although he is still very strong. Do not underestimate him." Warned Yuuki.

"Okay...but why are you telling me this?" Sakura believed that she already knew why.

"Because...Madara Uchiha is my superior!" said Yuuki looking at Sakura or her reaction.

Sakura wasn't too surprised but she was angry. "He's you superior...but he's evil!" hissed Sakura, eyes flashing.

"I know Sakura...but there is a good reason for this and it will be revealed in time. You just have to wait!" said Yuuki reassuringly.

Sakura hesitated before nodding.

Yuuki sat down and said, "There is also something else. I'm sure you know of Uchiha Itachi." Sakura nodded. "Well, you've probably always thought that he was cold-blooded killer who murdered his own clan...but that's not true!"

Sakura looked at Yuuki confused, "What do you mean that's not true?"

"Well, there is a past of the Uchiha clan that very few know about." Said Yuuki. "I am going to tell you this past. Listen carefully."

Sakura nodded.

"The Senju clan, grew tired of the endless fighting, and approached the Uchiha clan with a peace treaty. Madara feared that an alliance would lead the Uchiha to ruin, but his clan disagreed, and he was forced to accept. The two clans came together to form Konoha, with Hashirama Senju, leader of the Senju Clan, being selected as Hokage. Madara believed that this was proof that the Uchiha would be made subservient to the Senju, but his clan saw this only as his attempt to rekindle the flames of war. They turned their backs on him, and he defected. Following Madara's betrayal, the Second Hokage gave the Uchiha control of the Konoha Military Police Force as a sign of trust. According to Madara, this was really just a way of keeping the Uchiha in check and out of Konoha's governing affairs. Over the years, some Uchiha figured out this motive's true meaning, and tried to rebel against the village as Madara did, but they found that it was too late to make a difference, as the Senju had already completely suppressed the Uchiha.

Years later, after the Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha, Konoha began to suspect that an Uchiha was behind the attack. According to what Madara had told me, the Uchiha were relocated to a corner of the village so that they could be more easily monitored. The Uchiha interpreted this as confirmation of what Madara had warned them of years earlier, and began to plan overthrowing the village. Uchiha Itachi disagreed with the coup d'état, and informed Konoha's leadership of what the Uchiha were up to. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, tried to negotiate for a more peaceful approach. This failed, and to prevent an uprising that would create another war, Itachi was ordered to wipe out the Uchiha. Itachi spared only one Uchiha; his younger brother, Sasuke. Sasuke spent the next few years trying to avenge their family by killing Itachi, something Itachi had planned for from the very beginning." Yuuki finally finished.

"And you expect me to just believe this?" said Sakura sounding unbelieving.

"Look Sakura. If you don't believe, I can't do anything about it. But think about it. Did Uchiha Itachi ever appear in your village at random times." Said Yuuki.

Sakura's eyes widened she hesitantly nodded, "He appeared once after the third Hokage died."

"Exactly. Before Uchiha Itachi left the village, he begged that the third Hokage keep his brother safe from the other councillors of Konoha. When the third Hokage died, Itachi appeared to warn the council members that he was still alive and that they should not harm his brother or else he would expose their secrets." Explained Yuuki.

Sakura looked down at her hands. _He sacrificed his life...they ruined it...How could they?_

"Do you believe me now Sakura?" asked Yuuki. Sakura nodded and said, "Wait, does that mean that Itachi dead? Is Sasuke alive? Where is he now and why did you tell me all this?"

"Yes Itachi is dead. Uchiha Sasuke killed him. No, Sasuke did not return to Konoha. I do not know where he is." Said Yuuki. _I'm sorry for lying Sakura but I have to do this._

"I had to tell you because I am going to go and meet Madara tomorrow and some...other people..." Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Get some sleep now..." said Yuuki.

Sakura sat still for a while but then she lay back down and slowly fell asleep.

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><p><em>For the sake of Konoha's peace...and above all, for your sake, Uchiha Sasuke, he wished to die as a criminal...a traitor. Honour as compensation for dishonour...Hatred in exchange for love...And still Itachi died with a smile on his face. He entrusted the Uchiha name to you, his brother, while at the same time deceiving you forever...<em>

Sasuke stood on a rocky cliff watching the sea hit the rocks.

_Flashback_

"_You and I are unique brothers. As an obstacle you need to overcome, I...I'll always be there for you. Even if you end up hating me. That's what big brothers are for."_

_Flashback_

_Flashback_

"_Forgive me, Sasuke. This will be the last time."_

_Flashback _

The water sprayed over the edge of the cliff. Sasuke clenched his hands as tears unshed for so many years ran down his cheeks. He clenched his teeth and his forehead creased. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried. The weight sorrow felt like a physical pressure on his chest.

Sasuke's team stood not far behind him, leaning on boulders.

"We've shed the name Hebi. From now on, we will act under the name, Taka. Taka has but one goal. We will..."

Madara narrowed his visible eye.

Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing the Mangekyou.

"...Crush Konoha!"

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><p>"Sakura, we have to leave now!" stated Yuuki and Sakura looked at Yuuki and nodded.<p>

They left the inn and leapt into the trees.

A couple of hours later, night was approaching and Yuuki stated that they would be there in about an hour.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing? The preparations are already complete." Said Madara while walking out of the base.<p>

He looked up at Sasuke who sat on a skeletal figure gazing at the moon.

"When I gaze upon the full moon, I recall the memories of that night. As well as...the memories I've tried to forget. I can suddenly remember things about Itachi. So now all of those faint and fleeing memories are surfacing from beyond my once locked heart.

_Flashback_

_Itachi turned to look at Sasuke. Tears trickled out of his eyes before Sasuke fell unconscious._

_Flashback_

"He was crying back then...I thought I just imagined it. I couldn't figure out why." He paused, "It looks like you told me the truth."

"What will you do?" questioned Madara, "Will you take Itachi's eyes?"

"No. The things Itachi wanted to see, and the things that I'm _going_ to see will be different. I can't do what Itachi wanted me to. I'll revive the Uchiha in my own way." Said Sasuke.

* * *

><p>Sasuke slumped into the chair at the head of the stone table.<p>

Kisame smirked. _So Itachi bit the dust...And now his little brother joins. What an interesting fate. _

"We, Taka, will destroy Konoha." Stated Sasuke.

Madara sat on the table and said, "You can say it all you want, but how do you plan on accomplishing that?"

"My targets are the elders. I couldn't care less about anyone else." Said Sasuke.

"If you target a king, his soldiers will be there to defend him. It won't be that easy. Plus your little Taka group doesn't seem strong enough anyway." Said Kisame while smirking.

"Kisame-senpai, I wouldn't underestimate us if I were you. Our little game from before still isn't finished...I'll get serious this time." Said Suigetsu threateningly.

"Stop it, Suigetsu!" shouted Jugo.

Kisame smirked and Suigetsu jumped over the table whilst pulling his sword into his hands. He swung at Kisame but Madara appeared in front of him and raised his fist to stop his sword.

Suigetsu's eyes widened. "Sasuke,! Teach your men some discipline!" said Madara.

Suigetsu scrunched his eyebrows. _He stopped it with just his arm?_

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Karin adjusted her glasses yelling, "Suigetsu, you fucking idiot! This isn't the place for that!"

"My only goal is getting that Samehada! The only reason I joined up with Sasuke was to get it!" yelled Suigetsu.

"Sasuke, what're you gonna do?" questioned Jugo.

"Fine. Do as you please, Suigetsu. You probably can't beat his yet anyway." Said Sasuke.

Kisame laughed slightly. _Yet, eh?_

"Oh, don't say that, Sasuke. But just you wait. One of these days, I'll definitely treat you too some delicious shark fin soup!" said Suigetsu.

Suigetsu smirked at Kisame.

"Akatsuki's also lacking in man power, so let us refrain from any unnecessary skirmishes." Said Madara.

"Then you shouldn't be looking down on others." Said Suigetsu sounding annoyed.

"Our goals coincide. That's why Taka will cooperate with Akatsuki from now on." Said Madara.

"And what do we get out of this?" said Sasuke.

"We'll share the Bijuu." Stated Madara.

"Bijuu?" said Sasuke.

"You don't know anything about them?" questioned Madara.

"I know! Ike the Kyuubi they're basically-" Karin stopped suddenly and everyone looked at her.

"Two unfamiliar chakras have just entered this base!" said Karin slightly panicked.

"Ah! So Yuuki is finally here!" said Madara.

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><p>It was nightfall and they had finally entered some sort of base that had skeletal figures outside.<p>

They had scared the crap out of Sakura but then she had wondered what they were.

Yuuki led her to a stone door from which Sakura could hear voices behind.

Yuuki reached forward and twisted the handle.

Sakura clenched her fists. _I have a bad feeling about this!_

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><p><strong><span>AN; So Sasuke and Sakura are going to meet in the next chapter. I can't wait to write it. Please review.**


	21. Chapter 19: Guilt

**Chapter 19**

**Guilt**

**A/N: I know that this chapter is short but I wanted to get this over with so that we could get on to the good bit. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Please review.**

* * *

><p>Yuuki twisted the handle and pushed the door open. Yuuki stepped inside first of all. Sakura bit her lip as she tried to rid herself of the feeling of anxiety she had. Yuuki gestured towards her and Sakura pulled her hood off and took off her cloak, shoving it in her bag.<p>

She then stepped inside. What she saw nearly made her jaw drop open but she fought to keep her calm demeanour so she could prove herself.

There was a blue guy that looked a little like a shark. Sakura remembered seeing his picture in the Akatsuki files in Konoha. His name was Hoshigaki Kisame.

There was a woman with red hair and she was glaring at her for an unknown reason. There was a white-haired man and a tall, orange haired man who looked gentle despite being twice the size of. It dawned upon Sakura that this must be the team that Sasuke had created to track his brother, Itachi.

Then her eyes landed on the boy, or the man, who had almost made her lose her calm demeanour. The man that she swore not to love but couldn't stop doing so, although she would never admit it not even to herself.

Her eyes lingered on him for a few seconds longer than the others. His hair had gotten longer at the front and his he had grown, although she wouldn't admit it, devilishly handsome. His eyes were another story, they were cold although Sakura was relieved to see that they weren't as cold as in the dream she had two years ago.

She flicked her eyes over to Yuuki and glared at her. "So you did know Yuuki?" accused Sakura in a low voice.

Yuuki looked at Sakura innocently as if saying, _Uh...I didn't know_

Meanwhile Karin was glaring at Sakura fiercer than before due to the fact that Sasuke had laced his fingers in front of his face and was staring intently at Sakura.

Sakura continued to glare at Yuuki but was interrupted by a deep voice saying, "Yuuki! I was beginning to think that you had lost your way."

_Ba-bump_

A man wearing an orange mask stepped in to Sakura's line of sight which was beside Yuuki.

_Ba-bump_

_Flashback_

_Sakura realized that one of them must be his brother as he also had the Sharingan. He looked somewhat similar to Sasuke. The other figure was a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds. His face was concealed behind an orange mask with one eyehole. All three of them were blanketed by a shadow although the man with the mask seemed to radiate evil and darkness. Sasuke reached them and turned around._

_The look in his eyes had grown more evil and she felt the tears slide down her face. As all three turned around and began walking away from her, she caught a glimpse of the man with orange masks eyes. Her eyes widened as she saw the Sharingan._

_Flashback_

Sakura's heart was beating so fast and she looked at the man disbelievingly.

"I was always curious to know who your student was, you never did tell me!" said the man and Sakura had already realized that this must be Uchiha Madara.

"I'm sure you know why..." stated Yuuki scathingly.

The man chuckled although it sounded evil to Sakura.

"I never realized that you were Yuuki's student. I think that Sasuke and yourself knew each other, didn't you? Team 7, huh?" said Madara now directing his gaze upon Sakura.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at this and Sakura was about ready to punch the gut into oblivion but she calmed herself.

"What? You know her Sasuke-kun? Hmph..." screeched Karin annoyed and Sakura smirked.

_Ah! So she's a fan girl..._

"Blood hell! Finally a hot girl!" exclaimed Suigetsu grinning, "And you knew her, Sasuke!"

He bounced over to her and said, "So...are you a virgin?"

Sakura glared at Suigetsu and turned to Yuuki with a "care to explain look."

Yuuki sighed and said, "It was a long journey! Let's sit down Sakura!"

Yuuki looked around and took a spare seat at the other end of the table. Seeing no more seats, Sakura sat down on the table and looked pointedly at Jugo whilst saying, "Haruno Sakura."

Something about the man made her feel as if he wasn't a bad person.

The man looked at her and smiled a small smile saying, "Jugo."

Yuuki drew a kunai suddenly and everyone burst into action. Madara appeared behind Yuuki, a hand squeezing her throat. Sasuke appeared behind Sakura a sword at her throat.

Sakura leaned trying to get as far away from the blade as possible and Sakura realized that Sasuke and herself were extremely close. She fought with herself to keep the blush from surfacing onto her cheeks but nevertheless a small patch of pink appeared.

Yuuki disappeared and appeared on the other side of the room saying, "Madara! I merely felt a flare of chakra from the Uchiha boy and thought of it as a threat!"

Madara chuckled saying, "Sharp as ever!"

Sasuke released Sakura and she turned around but came face to face with him. Not expecting him to be so close, Sakura stepped backwards saying, "What else can you expect from Sasuke?"

She turned around and began walking towards the table but was again stopped by and arm by a kunai at her throat.

"For the love o-" started Sakura becoming increasingly annoyed at this.

She recognized the chuckle of Madara from behind her and said, "Get away from me you bastard!"

He chuckled again.

"Yuuki! What's with this guy?" questioned Sakura and she looked at Yuuki to see a guilty look in her eyes and she said, "I'm sorry Sakura..."

Then everything went black.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review.**


	22. Chapter 20: Team Taka

**Chapter 20**

**Team Taka**

**A/N; I did Sakura's POV in this chapter. If you prefer this or my last chapters then tell me in the reviews.**

**Enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Please review**

* * *

><p><strong>(Sakura's POV)<strong>

My eyes fluttered open and I blinked a couple of times to orientate myself. Madara stood in front of me with Yuuki standing not too far away.

My eyes sought out Sasuke and I saw him leaning against the stone table. My guess was that they were waiting for me to gain consciousness.

I tried to move my hands but I could a harsh material rubbing against them. I also felt strangely drained and I gritted my teeth saying, "You drained my chakra with Shark face's sword!"

Madara chuckled and said to Yuuki, "She's a smart one!"

"Yuuki! What the heck is going on?" I hissed trying to keep my anger under control. I was failing horribly.

Madara answered for her, "You will be a member of Team Taka! After all, you are one of the best medics and you are needed on that team."

My insides churned at what he had said. He wanted me to be a medic on Sasuke's team. No way is that happening!

"So basically, Yuuki trained me to be a medic in case you ever needed one and I left Konoha for this!" I yelled annoyed.

Madara nodded and it looked as if he took amusement in my reaction.

My eyes zeroed on Sasuke and I stared at him for ages. My hands started to shake and Yuuki warned Madara, "Be careful Madara, even without chakra she is dangerous!"

The ropes ripped leaving painful cuts on my wrist and I said furiously, "No way am I doing that!"

I stood up out of the chair I was strapped on to earlier and began backing towards the door.

Suddenly I felt a sword in my neck and a warm body behind me.

"Hn." I instantly knew who it was. I cursed myself for becoming flustered at the close proximity. I had trained myself for ages just in case.

"We'll be going now Yuuki!" Madara nodded at Yuuki and turned to Sasuke saying, "Hop in!"

The white haired guy , the red haired girl and the orange haired guy jumped into what I guessed to be a teleportation jutsu, which created a swirl like pattern from his eye hole.

"Let go of me!" I struggled against the sword at my neck which was very hard without getting my neck sliced into.

Madara grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward and the next thing I knew I had landed on the ground in an ungraceful heap.

I quickly stood up before anyone could see me and a second later Sasuke appeared and landed much more gracefully than I did. Madara wasn't with us so I guess he had just dropped us off.

I looked around and noticed that the other three were there as well but I ignored them and instantly narrowed my eyes and spat, "What the heck! What do you want?

Sasuke motioned towards Suigetsu who bounced over to me and heal out his hand. I stared at him for a moment and then at his hand before it dawned upon me. They wanted me as a medic.

I shrugged and figured that the faster I heal them the quicker I get out of this mess.

I took his hand and examined it and realized that it was fractured and so I poured some of my healing chakra into the hand.

"Thanks! Ne, Sasuke can she stick around?" he hollered loudly and I winced. He sort of reminded me of Naruto but I quickly shook that thought away.

"Leave!" he said to the three and I watched Suigetsu pout but leave and Karin huff and look at Sasuke pleadingly but she was cut off by a glare. Jugo left without a fuss.

I turned to look at Sasuke and watched him as he took off his cloak and shirt, dumping them on the ground. My cheeks blushed the slightest amount although it was barely visible.

He walked towards me and I was beginning to feel awkward although I continued to keep my guard up in case this was some diversion from an attack.

Once he reached me, he turned around and I came face to face with his back. I looked at it and saw a large bruise. Although it wasn't a normal bruise. His back was almost like a big blob of disfigured colour. Blue, yellow, purple all a part of the bruise. It looked like it would hurt horrible. I placed my hand fully atop it as I had to see if there was anything wrong internally. He had a small fracture in his back and I healed that with some of my chakra. The bruise took a while longer as I had to heal the small cuts which could only have been made by a sharp objects. I then reached into my medical pack which they had been kind enough to leave.

I reached around him to wrap the bandage around his back and stomach area and I immediately noticed that he was warm.

I didn't let this faze me as I secured the bandage and stepped back.

"Okay! I'll go now!" I made for the window and was stopped by a voice that I hadn't heard in a while, "You will remain a medic to team Taka!"

My eyes widened and my heart raced violently. _No, no, no! This can't happen! I need to leave now!_

"There is a chakra barrier around this room! You cannot leave!" stated Sasuke.

He put his shirt back on and re-buttoned his Akatsuki cloak before walking out of the room. I made a rude gesture eat the door and kicked the wall for good measure effectively earning a sore toe.

I hit the wall and slumped against it in defeat.

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><p><strong><span>AN: Please review.**


	23. Please read this message and review

Please read and review:

I'm so sorry about the slow and irregular updates recently. There has just been so much going in my life that there has barely even been time to think.

But recently I have had the time to think and have come up with a story idea that I may do soon or maybe even now.

Here is a small summary for this story:

Naruto and his comrades leave Sakura in the village as they search for Sasuke. During the time that they are away, a new law is enforced by the elders…all ninjas between the age of 16 and 18 must attend the academy in senior classes to study the ninja laws and history again, as the elders fear that the young generation is becoming too attached to emotions and will forget their duty as a ninja. Naruto and his comrades return with Sasuke and team taka and they must also attend the academy…but with Madara still around and many enemies, the academy will seem like a luxury to them. Sakura's uprising emotions and heart will overflow and she must battle hard to remain strong.

So that's the summary right there.

I may release this story soon although I do not know if I will be able to juggle three stories at once with all that is going on at the moment. Expect this story soon though.

Please review and tell me what you think.


	24. Chapter 21: Awareness

**Chapter 21**

**Awareness**

**A/N: I know I have not updated in a long time. I am extremely sorry. If you read my previous author's note you will have known why. I am also excited to share the fact that I have completed the first chapter of my new story, which have called, "Disturbance in the Waters". I may not post this for a while as I am not sure if I can cope with three stories. I may save it until this story is completed. **

**I have also decided to write a small preview for the next chapter, at the end of each chapter.**

**Enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Please review.**

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><p>I heard footsteps outside the door and by the way the person was walking, I guessed it was Suigetsu.<p>

The door banged open and Suigetsu walked in saying, "You've to come down!"

I rolled my eyes and stood up. I took off my cloak before leaving.

Suigetsu looked me up and down appreciatively and I felt like knocking him out but refrained from doing so.

He led me downstairs and I realized that the inn we were staying at also had a restaurant below. As we walked into the restaurant, I tried to ignore the perverted gazes of a couple of men.

Suigetsu led up to the back where there was a low table and cushions. Sasuke sat on one of them with Juugo on one side of him and Karin on the other. Suigetsu and I sat on the opposite side.

Once I had sat down, I blurted out a, "Can I leave now?"

Suigetsu laughed and Karin glared. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow at me and as I did not want to back down, I raised one right back at him.

"Why did you leave Konoha?" said Sasuke.

My calm face wavered slightly and if Sasuke had not been watching in that precise second, he would not have noticed.

"None of your business." I answered firmly, whilst berating myself internally for panicking.

I glared at him and poked at some of the food on my plate with my chopsticks, not eating any for obvious reasons.

"It's not poisoned." Said Juugo. I looked up at him and nodded.

I picked some food up and nibbled at it before putting the piece of food into my mouth.

"We leave tonight!" said Sasuke.

The rest of the team nodded and I smiled internally.

_Perfect chance to escape! I'll have to watch out for Sasuke though..._I thought. I stared at him as he ate; he raised his head and looked towards me. I looked away quickly and continued eating.

It was quiet for a while after that as we all ate and then Sasuke's voice cut through the air like a blade, "Don't try to escape tonight." I looked up but he had already disappeared.

_I have to be careful. Sasuke will be more alert now! _I thought.

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><p>I finished checking that I had everything. A few hours after my arrival, Karin had stripped me of all my weapons but I had luckily found a kunai in one of the chest of drawers. Obviously a member of the team had left it there before moving into another room upon my arrival.<p>

Even though I had only one weapon. I still had my chakra. Juugo had also drained my chakra but had left a small amount so that I would not die. Although I only needed a small amount of chakra to manipulate my chakra into a potent kind, the jutsu I had named Tsuyoi-yu-ryoko jutsu.

The chakra barrier had been taken down when Suigetsu came to get me for food but it had been placed up again so I could not leave until someone came up.

I sighed in annoyance and sat on the floor waiting for someone to come up.

Finally, Karin came up and said snobbishly, "Follow me!"

As we walked downstairs I felt the comforting presence of the kunai I had found. I smiled internally knowing that now, I had a weapon that they did not know of.

_If Sasuke activates his sharingan he'll know so I have to be careful._

Sasuke and the others were already waiting downstairs and we left straight away. I noticed that Karin tried being as close to Sasuke as possible but soon she began tire and became unable to keep up with Sasuke's speed.

I had to admit that it hurt slightly. The fact that he had been so sparse in interaction with me, especially since we hadn't seen each other for 2 years.

_What can you expect from Sasuke! _I mentally berated myself for thinking such weak thoughts.

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><p>We finally reached a small village which had an inn.<p>

We walked in and received one room.

I panicked. How was I supposed to sneak out if everyone else was in the same room? Although at the same time, there was one good thing about this. A chakra barrier would not be placed on the room during the night.

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><p>I shifted in my futon ever so slightly, and reached for the kunai I had hidden in my boot when I had taken off my weapon holster.<p>

We were all sleeping in separate futons next to each other. On one side of me was Suigetsu and on the other side was Sasuke. He had obviously chosen that particular futon in case I tried to escape.

I had always been good at sneaking - An advantage of my short height.

I looked at Sasuke's futon. His back was facing away from me so I could not tell if he was awake. I decided to take the risk.

I slipped out of my futon and stealthily crept over to the window. I shivered as I felt a cold draft pass over me.

I tested it and was surprised to find it unlocked. Even if it was locked I could unlock it using stealthy tricks that every ninja was taught, but it would take time and create noise that would wake the others.

I had sneakily placed my boots near the window and I took the kunai out before slipping into them.

I crept over to the window and pushed it up the tiniest amount. It did not make a single noise. I looked behind me to check if anyone had awoken and was met with crimson red eyes.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the short chapter. They will get longer. Here's a preview for the next chapter.**

"_So, what information do you have? I trust you have gathered more since your last visit." Said Tsunade._

"_I have!" Said a mysterious voice. The person dumped a pile of papers on to the desk, "She is in the hands of Madara now."_

_Tsunade nodded gravely and took the pile of papers._

**Please review.**


	25. Chapter 22: Onyx

**Chapter 22**

**Onyx**

**A/N: I am extremely sorry for the late update. Hopefully in a couple of weeks things should be back on track and I should be updating more frequently. I have also decided to save my new story "Disturbance in the waters" until after this story is completed. Instead, a new story will be released called, "Everlasting". This will be released soon.**

**Enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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><p>Sakura's eyes widened as she was pushed against a wall with her arms pinned to her sides.<p>

The hands that were gripping her arms were very strong and her arms began aching.

"What are you doing?" she spat – although still whispering – to Madara Uchiha who stood in front of her.

"Trying to sneak off..." he whispered in her ear and she shivered, his voice disgusting her.

"Let go of me!" she said loudly hoping that Sasuke would wake up. _Who are you kidding! This is a completely different Sasuke. I don't even recognise him._

"I don't know what Yuuki is planning...but if you have anything to do with it...I guarantee death." Said Madara lowly.

I closed my eyes. _Focus, Sakura!_

I released some of my chakra and made it as potent as I possibly could. I felt it slither down my arms and into Madara's hand.

He retracted his hands and cursed. He looked up at me and I saw his sharingan narrow with fury and I was shoved against a wall with his hand on my neck.

Suddenly she felt a sharp metal come between the two of them and she opened her eyes to see Sasuke's Kusanagi at Madara's throat.

Madara chuckled and stepped back, pushing the blade away.

"Calm down, Sasuke... I was merely giving the blossom a warning." Said Madara obviously amused.

He disappeared.

Sakura's back was still against the wall and she raised her hand to my neck and felt the bruises created by Madara's tight grip.

"You were awake the whole time weren't you...?" she questioned quietly.

Sasuke didn't say anything but instead he walked towards her as until he was in front of her with her back against the wall.

"Don't try to escape again." He said low and dangerously.

She bit my lip and looked away not saying anything.

Sasuke grabbed her chin and turned her face to look at him. His hands were rough and calloused, as she'd always imagined them to be when she was an immature girl.

She glared at him and he said, "Do you understand, Sakura?" said Sasuke. She shivered when he said her name. His tone was so velvet and smooth.

"What's with all the noise?" said Suigetsu grumpily. He saw the position Sasuke and I were in and raised an eyebrow saying, "Let me guess! You tried to escape or Sasuke here is finally proving that he is not gay...cause I kind of thought... "

She looked at him for a minute before bursting out laughing. Suigetsu grinned at her, happy that she was finally not glaring at him so much.

Sakura felt Sasuke's onyx orbs bore into her as she slipped out of her boots and into her futon.

Suigetsu fell asleep again quickly and she felt her own eyelids grow heavy.

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><p>Sakura yawned as she sat up in my futon. Nobody was in the room and she almost screamed in frustration. <em>I'm starving and they leave me here randomly.<em>

She stood up and went into the bathroom and stripped her clothing away before stepping into shower. The warm water helped her become orientated again and she looked around as if she had finally realised where she was.

_I am stuck in an inn which is some place I don't even know and now I need to be the medic to a team that wants to destroy Konoha and my mentor is the reason I'm in this mess. What else could possibly go wrong?_

She had been caught escaping last night and Sasuke's tone had told he that there would be no second chances. She groaned in defeat and leaned her forehead against the cool tiles in the shower.

_What am I going to do?_

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><p>Sakura walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed, and decided to see if there was a chakra barrier around the room.<p>

She opened the door and waved a hand outside the room. She felt no barrier.

She smiled but then it faded as she thought that Sasuke would not be so careless. They were obviously expecting her in the restaurant downstairs or something.

She heaved a sigh and began walking downstairs. She arrived in front of the small entryway to the restaurant and she looked around her for a while. How easy would it be to take a few steps to the right, out of the inn and into the forest?

She looked around once more and took some tentative steps towards the exit but then as if out of nowhere Jugo appeared and looked at her almost guiltily as he nodded towards the restaurant.

She rolled her eyes and walked inside without another word.

She spotted the team sitting at the same low table they were sitting at yesterday. Sasuke on one side with Karin and Jugo either side of him. Sakura and Suigetsu sat down opposite them.

Once they sat down, Sasuke said, "Madara said that now is not an opportune time to attack Konoha. Another member of Akatsuki already did that, Pein."

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked up and said, "What?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her and said, "Apparently Naruto turned up and killed Pein..."

Sakura smiled internally and barely heard Suigetsu, "The blondie?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke again and noticed that he was staring intently at her. She decided to do something ridiculously stupid and reckless.

"What are you staring at you bastard?"

Suigetsu, Karin and Jugo stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her wide-eyed.

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><p>Tsunade lay with the side of her face on some paperwork.<p>

"Tired...?" said a voice from the window. Tsunade jerked up and began pretending to work with paperwork before she realised that she couldn't see anybody in the room. She turned towards the window and said, "Oh, it's you..."

"Glad to see that you're so happy to see me." Said the person slightly amused.

"So, what information do you have? I trust you have gathered more since your last visit." said Tsunade seriously as she wiped some drool from her mouth.

"I have!" Said the person as they dumped a pile of papers on to the desk, "She is in the hands of Madara now."

Tsunade nodded gravely and took the pile of papers.

The person headed towards the window and crouched on the window sill and was about to jump out the window before Tsunade said, "Look after her."

The person turned around revealing maroon eyes and nodded.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review.**

_Preview_

_Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Sakura._

_Before Sakura could even say anything more, Sasuke's hand grabbed her wrist and they both disappeared._

_Preview_


	26. Chapter 23: Déjà vu

**Chapter 23**

**Déjà vu**

**A/N:**_** I am so sorry for the late update. I've not had much time to post or write any chapters but I should have more time from now on.**_

_**I'm going to be posting a few new stories soon but I'm hoping to get at least one of my current stories completed first.**_

_**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. I'm going to try and make the chapters longer. This one is relatively long. The next chapter is longer though. I'm hoping to increase the length of the chapters by quite a bit.**_

_**I also decided to put some Sasusaku action in this chapter because it's been about 22 chapters with very little Sasusaku.**_

_**Also, about the saying near the end of this chapter. I remember hearing it somewhere, but I can't remember where. **_

_**Please review and leave your thoughts on this chapter.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**_

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><p>Sakura felt a hand clamp around her wrist and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was in a room and against the wall.<p>

"Why is it that I'm always in this position when I'm with you?" said Sakura, genuinely curious and slightly annoyed.

"Sakura, you are not in a position to act like this. Stop being foolish." Said Sasuke as he stood in front of her.

Sakura was not so stupid to not take his warning seriously but she couldn't help it. She just happened to gain a sarcastic attitude during her leave from Konoha.

"Wow! You spoke more than one sentence...so you're not emotionally constipated." Said Sakura and instantly clamped down on her tongue with her teeth to prevent herself from saying anything else that would result in her being killed.

Sasuke glared at her and leaned in and when his mouth was near her ear he said, "Don't forget where you are and who you are surrounded by." Sakura froze because of the close proximity.

When he pulled away she maintained a calm, blank facade which left Sasuke wondering why her lack of reaction annoyed him slightly.

* * *

><p>Yuuki observed what was happening from a tree outside the window. She watched as Sasuke and Sakura appeared in the room, a few words were exchanged as Sakura was pressed against the wall and then Sasuke left.<p>

_She can't develop anymore feelings for the Uchiha. It will ruin everything I worked for to complete this task._

* * *

><p>Sakura now stood alone in the room and she let out a breath that she had been holding in. Looking around she realised that the room she was in right now was her 'bedroom'.<p>

She walked towards the balcony and sighed. She stared out of the window for a while and found her eyes fixated one spot which had caught her attention. A tree.

There was something different about it which sounded strange but nothing is to strange in the life of a ninja.

She also noticed that the tree was the perfect place to be able to see into the room she was currently standing in.

Sakura reached out with the intent of opening the window and going to that tree to inspect it, but as soon as her came into contact with the bottom of the window, she jumped backwards feeling as though an electric shock had gone through her entire body.

She clutched her hand which was still tingling and cursed a couple of times before staring back out the window at the tree. She glared at it for a while for no apparent reason and then flopped down on the ground.

She curled into a small ball and finally assessed her situation. She was stuck in the company of people that would not let her go easily; she had no chance of escaping with the chakra barriers around the room. She figured that the only way to escape would be when they began to move, but she didn't know when that would be. The only thing she could do now was wait.

Her thoughts strayed to Yuuki and her betrayal. Maybe if she hadn't left Konoha in the first place, she wouldn't be in this situation. As soon as the thought entered her head, she pushed it out knowing that now was not the time to dwell on the past.

She lifted her head and focused on the door opposite where she was sitting. Standing up, she walked over to the door and reached out, hoping that the chakra barrier was not on the door and at the same time she braced herself for the shock that may rattle through her if she even touched the door.

Surprisingly, when she touched the doorknob she felt no electric shock but the door would not open.

She sighed, ran a hand through her hair and then...gave the finger to the door. Yes, it was pointless but it gave her a small amount satisfaction to know that the door could do nothing back to her.

She flopped down onto the ground again and stared at the ceiling with a bored expression.

* * *

><p>"So..." began Suigetsu. At that moment he realised that he had nothing to say so he decided on doing the most productive thing he could think of.<p>

"Hey, Karin! You have thunder thighs!" Not even a second passed before her foot was jammed into his liquefied face.

"Enough!" Came a sharp voice from the other side of the room.

Suigetsu smirked. Sasuke seemed even more on edge ever since the arrival of the pretty pink-haired blossom.

Five minutes passed in silence and Suigetsu sighed before realising that he would have to find some way to entertain himself.

Juugo sat peacefully on the window sill with a bird perched on his hand and more birds surrounding the window.

Suigetsu snickered and ran over to Juugo, waving his hands, and effectively scaring the birds away.

Juugo turned to look at him and for a moment there seemed to be a murderous glint in his eyes but it passed quickly.

"Sasuke, change of plan." Suigetsu spun around and stared, bewildered, at Madara.

"You need to vacate this inn immediately. So why not start the mission a day early?"

Sasuke seemed unsurprised by Madara's entrance. He narrowed his eyes into a glare, "It is night."

"Everyone has their secrets. You need to leave. Anyways the sky isn't looking too good right now. It looks like it's going to snow, so you might as well leave early instead of being delayed."

Sasuke somehow managed to make his glare more deadly but Madara seemed unaffected. Sasuke shifted and stood up before going to the other side of the room and picking up his discarded cloak.

Madara took this as an agreement on Sasuke's part.

"Don't forget to take the little pink petal with you." His voice sounded mocking to Suigetsu's ears, as if he were purposefully goading Sasuke and his tone of voice somehow managed to convey the message, '_I know something you don't know'._

"I'll get her." Juugo offered and stood up from his place on the windowsill.

"No." Sasuke said whilst walking in the direction of Sakura's room.

* * *

><p>Sakura could hear someone approaching her door and she rolled her eyes.<p>

She stood up before the door had opened. Lying down in the wake of the enemy made Sakura feel vulnerable.

The door opened and Sasuke said, "Come."

Sakura's inner-self reprimanded her, _What are you talking about? Sasuke's no enemy!_

Sakura quickly shoved her thoughts into a corner of her mind as she deemed them to be inconvenient. Of course Sasuke was the enemy. He was cold-hearted and power hungry. He wanted to destroy Konoha. Sakura had mulled over this particular thought for a while. If she hated Konoha so much, then why did she dislike Sasuke for wanting to destroy it? She couldn't explain it. She felt some sort of protectiveness for her former home and couldn't help but miss the days when she would be accompanied by _friends_ to Ichiraku's or the times when they would complete missions and create fond memories.

All of it was gone now and knowing that made Sakura's heart ache in a way that she hadn't felt since two years ago.

She quickly realised that she was still in the room and that Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

Across from the room she was currently standing in was the door that Sasuke had entered. She walked out of the room and looked to her right, where there was a staircase leading down.

She looked incredulously at the door in front of her and then at the staircase beside her. She made her decision within seconds and made a beeline for the staircase.

Sasuke appeared so suddenly in front of her that her heart almost leapt out of her throat.

He grabbed her elbow and dragged her into the room.

She jerked her arm out of his grip and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "You know, this whole appearing in random places thing has got to stop!"

Suigetsu sniggered, "Well, if he did that blossom, then you would have a quick escape route out of here!"

"That's not exactly a bad thing." She defended.

"Well, it is for us!" Suigetsu said.

Sakura glared heatedly at him. "That's some glare you've got there. Enough malice in there to rival even Sasuke's." Suigetsu said.

Sakura blinked and decided that the safest course of action was to change the subject. "Care to explain why I was dragged here?"

"We have a mission." Said Juugo helpfully.

Sakura turned her gaze on him and couldn't help some softness creep into her eyes as she said, "You do missions?"

Juugo nodded.

"That's weird! So what's the mission?" Sakura questioned.

"We have to go investigate a small village which has had some strange things happening recently." Suigetsu said. Sakura noted that it was about the only helpful thing that he'd said to her.

Sakura's forehead creased, "What kind of strange things?"

"Tourists have been disappearing when visiting there." Karin said snobbishly as if Sakura's question had been stupid.

_I wondered when she was going to say something to me, _Thought Sakura with wry amusement.

Sakura seemed to consider for a moment.

"Well, I sure as hell am not going to help you!"

Sasuke eyes flashed threateningly in her direction but she ignored it.

She headed for the door. If she couldn't escape then she was going to go back to that pathetic excuse of a room she had been in.

Sasuke flash stepped in front of her and she glared at him before glaring at the door.

"You will come." Sasuke said firmly.

"Or what, you'll knock me out?" Challenged Sakura without any hesitation. Unwanted memories of a moonlit night, a certain raven-haired boy walking away and a cold stone bench flooded her mind.

Something passed his normally firm, emotionless eyes. "Don't make me."

Sakura felt as if a tsunami had hit her. Some part of her felt disheartened by the fact that there had been something, some sort of emotion, in his eyes. But it was gone in a heartbeat.

She knew that he had remembered that memory as well. Right? She wasn't sure.

But then other memories entered her mind.

_Flashback_

"_Sakura is a burden to us and slows us down on missions. She's annoying."_

_Flashback_

Sakura's eyes hardened and she glared at him. "Then knock me out." The challenge was clear in her tone.

She loaded her fist with chakra and aimed for his face. He disappeared and appeared behind her.

He pushed her out of the door and into the room across from them. She staggered and glared at him as the door swung shut behind them.

"Not, going to knock me out?" She taunted. Her inner was yelling at her, _Do you have a death wish?_

She ignored her thoughts incessantly nagging her.

Sasuke stalked towards her. She stubbornly held her ground.

He was so close to her now that she had to tilt her head up to see his face.

She couldn't help but take a couple of steps backward and she inwardly berated herself for that small show of weakness.

She felt her back come into contact with the wall. Sasuke placed his left arm beside her face and Sakura was overcome with a sense of déjà vu.

Sakura could feel his presence all around her. It was as though he were surrounding her purposefully, making her feel intimidated.

She heard the sounds of his Kusanagi being drawn from its sheath. The cool, sharp edge of the sword settled itself against her neck. It was barely touching, but she felt all too aware of the fact that at any second Sasuke could cut her throat.

He moved his face forward until their noses were almost touching and her breathing hitched.

Suddenly he smirked and Sakura felt fury rise within her like a tumultuous wave. _That bastard!_

He had purposefully tested the waters to see if he still affected her and had then exploited her weakness right in front of her.

She silently fumed and glared and then realised that Sasuke had not moved from his position. In fact, confusion entered his eyes briefly.

Sakura couldn't but notice that she would only have to lean forward by about an inch and their lips would be touching.

The door opened and the tense atmosphere broke. Sasuke turned to look at the door while Sakura continued to stare forward at the raven strands of hair obscuring her vision and used the few seconds to calm her erratically beating heart.

"We're ready to leave." Said Juugo, rather awkwardly as he took in their position.

"Hn." Sasuke swiftly walked out the door, whilst sheathing his katana.

Sakura pushed herself away from the wall and inwardly gaped after Sasuke.

* * *

><p>"State your purpose." A guard said.<p>

"A holiday with my friends and um..." Karin glanced at Sasuke and blushed.

Sakura rolled her eyes and for a moment she was reminded of the overly-sweet, almost sickening, way she used to act towards Sasuke.

Karin was deemed to be the most normal looking out of all of them so she had been designated the task of actually speaking with the guards.

And so, after sealing all of their weapons and ninja-like clothing into a scroll, which was now being carried by Sasuke, they had headed towards the village gates.

The guard nodded and moved to the side, "Enjoy your stay."

Sakura looked around as they walked through the streets of the village, searching for an inn, and was reminded of Konoha. The streets bustled with life. Children ran around with carefree smiles on their faces, woman chatted in groups with other women about the latest gossip.

Sakura heard a few teenage girls giggling and pointing at Sasuke. Karin glared at them and walked closer to Sasuke.

Finally, they located an inn. After booking one room and receiving the key, they headed up the stairs and entered their room. Sasuke immediately entered the bathroom and a moment later they heard the sound of a shower.

Sakura went to the small cupboard and extricated some futons. She picked one up and busied herself by setting her own one up in the middle of the room.

* * *

><p>Sasuke's hand was braced against the cool, tiled wall of the shower while the lukewarm water cascaded into his hair and down his back.<p>

His eyes were closed and his jaw clenched as he recalled when he had pinned Sakura to wall only hours earlier. The way his subconscious had whispered that he could drag his katana down Sakura's body and use it to slit open the front of her shirt. He could easily overpower her and do whatever he wished with her.

He jerked the shower off and grabbed the towel.

* * *

><p>Sakura had finished setting up her futon and said, "Dibs on being next in the shower!"<p>

"Want some company?" Suigetsu smirked at her from across the room. She grabbed a spare pillow and chucked it as hard as she could at him.

His face liquefied the moment the pillow hit him. Sakura gaped at him.

"Never seen that before, have you?" Suigetsu drawled. Sakura shook her head, "How do yo do that?"

Suigetsu shrugged, "Orochimaru and some of his other subordinates," he pointedly glared at Karin, "tinkered with my body and this is how it turned out."

Sakura could feel her compassionate side take a hold of her. "They experimented on you?"

"Heh! You actually care don't you." Suigetsu said, waving a hand.

Sakura's compassionate gaze didn't waver and she openly stared as if sympathising with him.

The bathroom door opened and Sasuke walked out. Sakura stood up and walked into the bathroom intent on scrubbing herself properly. She hadn't showered in a while and she felt dirty.

* * *

><p>Sakura tossed and turned in her futon. She had been like this for about an hour now. It wasn't that the futon was uncomfortable, on the contrary it was very snug, but she was too busy thinking. She had continuously glanced at the calendar pinned on one of the walls. It showed that today was the date that two years ago she had found out her <em>friends <em>opinions of her.

She sat up and stood before walking to the other side of the room towards the window seat. She wasn't going to try to escape. She knew for a fact that Sasuke had probably awoken the moment he had heard the small creak she had made whilst standing up.

She sat down on the window seat and stared at the sky. It was a full moon. _Just like that night._ Sakura mused.

That night she had cried more than she could ever recall. It had certainly never crossed her mind that two years later, she would be sitting in a room with a group of sleeping missing nins, one of which was Sasuke.

Sakura frowned slightly as she stared at the sky, only now realising that it was stained a dark shade of blood red.

From the depths of her mind, Sakura dug up a saying.

_Red sky at night, blood will be shed that night._

Of course, blood was shed almost every night but to Sakura the sky presented an ominous sign.

* * *

><p>Yuuki sneered as she pulled her kunai out of Zetsu.<p>

Only Zetsu's white half was present but there were many of them. After realising that she was being followed, Yuuki had confronted Zetsu and had killed one of his clones as a warning.

Zetsu swiftly disappeared.

Apparently Madara still did not trust her. _And for good reason._

Although, she had to admit that the supervision was inconvenient and annoying.

Yuuki wiped the blood off of her kunai on the grass beneath her and looked up towards the sky.

It was stained a dark, blood red. Yuuki stared at it for a while and then stared at the blood stained grass beneath her feet. She shrugged at the coincidence and continued on her way to the very important task which needed completing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_**Please review.**_

_Preview_

"_There's no way I'm doing that!" Exclaimed Karin, appalled._

"_Then I'll do it." Said Sakura simply._

_Preview_


	27. Chapter 24: Disappearances

**Chapter 24**

**Disappearances**

**A/N: **_**Please review the chapters if you read them. Last time I updated, not many people reviewed but I know that a lot of people read the chapter. So please, even if it is short, review.**_

_**Check my profile page if you want to find out about upcoming chapter progress. In the Shadows will be updated soon.**_

_**Please review.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**_

* * *

><p>"Suigetsu, Juugo. Go that way." Sasuke ordered.<p>

"See ya!" Suigetsu waved and he and Juugo began walking away from them

Sasuke began walking down the street.

"So, Sasuke-kun! Where should we look first?" Karin ran to stand beside Sasuke and twirled her hair round her fingers.

Sakura rolled her eyes and said, "We need to look for people who are more wary and look nervous."

Karin glared at her and said, "I asked Sasuke-kun."

"Hn. Sakura is right." Sasuke continued walking.

Sasuke walked towards a bench and sat down. Karin instantly took the space beside him and Sakura sat beside her.

Sasuke and Sakura observed the people walking around from their positions. Karin, on the other hand, was rambling about something unimportant.

Sasuke suddenly stood and nodded his head towards an elderly woman. Sakura looked at her and noticed that she was hurrying somewhere, probably home, her movements jumpy and nervous glances being cast everywhere.

They watched as she inserted the key into a house door, presumably hers, and enter before quickly closing the door behind her.

They all walked towards the house and Sakura knocked. They waited on the doorstep. Finally, they heard a timid, "Who is it?"

"Erm...we just have a few questions for you miss." Sakura said rather awkwardly.

The woman opened the door slightly; just a crack was visible, and peered at them.

Sakura gave an inviting, encouraging smile that she knew would make the woman feel slightly more at ease.

When the woman didn't move, Sakura continued, "Maybe this conversation would be better held inside."

The woman considered and then opened the door wider and beckoned for them to come inside.

They walked inside and Sakura politely took off her sandals.

They woman led them down the hallway towards a kitchen. As they walked through the hallway Sakura noticed some picture frames hanging on the walls.

Sakura recognised the same elderly woman and she stood beside an elderly man, who Sakura assumed was his husband. His arm was wrapped around her waist and they were both smiling. In another picture the woman stood with her husband and a young, rather pretty, woman.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. He was calmly scanning the interior of the house.

"Please, sit down." The woman gestured to a sofa.

Sakura settled herself in the sofa on the left, whilst Karin sat in the middle and Sasuke on the right.

The woman was still in the kitchen, bustling around. A couple of minutes later the woman entered the living room carrying a tray which balanced a teapot, several teacups, and some milk and sugar.

The woman set the tray on to the coffee table in front of them and began pouring the milk and adding sugar to Karin's tea. Karin accepted her tea without a simple 'Thank you' and the woman's nose wrinkled in distaste at the lack of manners.

"Sugar?" She was staring at Sasuke.

"No."

The woman handed Sasuke his tea and he accepted, "Arigatou."

Sakura looked at him incredulously. Sasuke thanking someone? She shrugged it off. Sasuke was after all raised in a prestigious clan. It only made sense that he have impeccable manners.

"Sugar?" The woman repeated, now looking at Sakura.

"Um...one teaspoon please."

The woman handed Sakura some tea and Sakura accepted it thankfully. She wrapped her arms around the cup, letting the warmth seep into her cold fingers. She smiled at the woman and said, "Arigatou."

The woman returned her smile and sat in the loveseat opposite them.

"So, what is it that you need to ask me?" The woman questioned.

"We're just wondering if you are aware of any disappearances happening recently um..."

The woman shifted and said, "My name is Higara Keiko."

"Higara-san, we're just wondering if you've seen or heard _anything_." Continued Sakura.

"Please, just call me Keiko. And yes, I do know about the disappearances." Said Keiko.

"Please tell us. We're here to help!" Sakura coaxed persuasively.

"Only a few weeks ago my daughter went missing." They all listened attentively, their tea forgotten. "She was beautiful." Keiko continued, picking up a picture frame on the table and handing it to Sakura.

Sakura looked at the picture frame and smiled. The woman in the picture was pushing her father, who sat on a swing rather awkwardly, she was laughing.

"Did she go anywhere before her disappearance?" said Sasuke, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"Not really...well, actually she went to the hospital because she had a throat infection. She came home with a prescription. The day after that she left for the pharmacists and didn't come back." Keiko sniffled.

Sakura's eyes flooded with sympathy.

"Which pharmacy?" Continued Sasuke, seemingly unaware that Keiko was on the verge of tears.

"I don't know. There's a couple across the village." Keiko dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

Sasuke stood and said, "That's enough information."

Sakura hurriedly stood and placed her full teacup on the coffee table.

"Thank you so much for the tea Keiko."

Keiko shook her head and Sakura's eyes hardened, "Keiko! We're going to do our best to find your daughter."

Sasuke stared at her.

"Arigatou." Said Keiko gratefully.

Sakura smiled and she could feel Sasuke's gaze on her become heavier. He really shouldn't be able to stare at people like that.

Sasuke brusquely left the room with Karin following like a compliant puppy. Sakura bowed and left the room.

Sakura quickly put her boots on and left. Sasuke and Karin stood in front of the house.

Sakura ran up to them and said, "She was a good person to go to."

"I thought you said you didn't want to help with this mission." Karin said.

"Well, I had a change of heart!" said Sakura calmly. In truth, when she had seen Keiko almost break down in the house, her compassionate nature had taken over. She was in a position to help her so why not?

"The hospital and pharmacists need investigating." Said Sasuke as they walked towards the inn they were staying at.

* * *

><p>"So, what did you find out?" drawled Suigetsu as soon as they walked in to the room they had purchased.<p>

"You tell us what you find out first." Said Sakura looking at Suigetsu.

"Yes, blossom." Suigetsu smirked when Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"We found two people who had had either a friend or family member disappear. They told us that the people had gone to the pharmacy before they disappeared." Juugo filled in.

"That's what that old lady we talked to told us." Piped up Karin. Sakura frowned when she heard Karin address Keiko as 'that old lady'.

"What were their names?" questioned Sakura.

"Juugo wrote them down." Answered Suigetsu. Juugo handed her a piece of paper.

She looked at the names. "Nanami Fumiko and Suzumi Midori. Did you ask about their age?"

"Nanami-san is 23 and Suzumi-san is 16." Sakura frowned. They were both young, one was even her age. For them to disappear without a trace was...

...Cruel.

"We need to find out which pharmacy they went to." Said Sasuke.

"And how do we do that?" questioned Suigetsu.

"We go to the hospital and look at their files. There may be a record of the prescription they were given in their files." Said Sasuke.

"That's a great plan Sasuke!" Karin gushed, "_You _and _I _should go now!"

"No, Sakura will come with me." Said Sasuke directing his gaze to Sakura.

Sakura looked at him with a questioning stare. He breathed through his nose impatiently, "You are a medic-nin."

"Oh, right. Yeah." Said Sakura lamely. When she had trained with Yuuki, Yuuki had made her learn the general layout of a hospital in case she ever needed to do a mission there. But she really didn't want to be alone with Sasuke.

He looked at her expectantly. She stared dumbly back. Then she realised what he wanted.

"We should wait until night. Since it's a Friday, the hospital will be more packed. There'll be more confusion which will make it easier to sneak in." She said in a matter of fact tone.

Sasuke nodded.

* * *

><p>Sasuke and Sakura walked into the hospital after making themselves look as normal as possible without having to use a transformation jutsu.<p>

"The archives are normally on the second floor." Said Sakura.

They walked past the receptionist and into the fire exit stairs.

They climbed one level and Sasuke looked past the double doors. There was nobody there but they could hear people bustling around in the rooms.

"Come on." Said Sasuke walking out. They began walking down the corridor.

Two nurses came out of one of the rooms, chatting. Sakura faltered slightly but Sakura gave her a warning glance and she continued walking.

"Those must be the archives." Said Sakura pointing to a door at the end of the hallway. They both picked up their pace.

The door was locked and Sakura cursed. "I need to pick the lock. Can you keep a look out?" Sasuke complied and Sakura took a small, discreet pin out from her hair and worked it into the lock. She worked the lock for a couple of minutes and finally the lock clicked and the door swung open. Sakura smiled triumphantly.

She walked in with Sasuke following. He closed the door and Sakura looked at the archives. It was a large, square room with filing cabinets lining every wall except for the wall with the floor to ceiling windows.

Sakura walked forward and examined a nearby filing cabinet. The filing cabinet had a small label in the corner, "A to C."

She cursed when she realised that she had forgotten the piece of paper which had the disappeared people's names on it.

"Hey! Do you remember the people's names?" questioned Sakura.

"Nanami Fumiko, Suzumi Midori, Higara Keiko's daughter." Replied Sasuke.

Sakura continued looking at the filing cabinets. She pulled one of the drawers open and said, "Nanami Fumiko, Nanami Fumiko..." She flipped through some files and found the one she was looking for.

Sasuke walked towards her and stood behind her as she opened the file and flipped to the end of it. She traced her finger down a couple of lines.

"Here, this is the pharmacy she went to." Sasuke read the paragraph she was pointing to.

"Check the other two files." Said Sasuke. Sakura complied and began looking for the correct filing cabinet. She pulled out a file and read for a bit before saying, "Suzumi midori went to the same pharmacy."

She searched through another filing cabinet, looking for Higara Keiko's daughter. They had forgotten to ask Keiko her daughter's full name and so Sakura only had a surname to search for.

Finally, she extricated a file and she turned around. Sasuke suddenly grabbed her and pulled her against his chest.

She gasped, blushing, "What are yo-"

Sasuke slapped a hand on to her mouth as he pulled them both to the windows.

He leaned against the window with her against his chest. Seconds later, a man walked in. He was obviously a doctor. He spotted the open filing cabinet and walked over to it, closing it, whilst muttering something about trainees being careless.

Sakura's forehead creased in confusion. Then she realised that Sasuke must have cast a genjutsu to make it appear as though they were not there.

The man walked across the room, past them. Sasuke drew her further into his chest, as the doctor walked past, so that her body was pressed intimately against his.

The doctor rifled through a filing cabinet for a while and left the room with a file.

Sasuke released her slowly. His hand withdrew from around her waist and his fingers brushed her waist as he let go. Sakura shivered and blushed. She looked up at him and dazedly realised that the moonlight shining through the huge window made his skin seem paler and his aristocratic features stand out. She drew a breath in, when he leaned forward, eyes flickering to her lips.

Suddenly he moved to the side and walked away. Sakura stood in the same place for a couple of seconds, trying to orientate herself, before following.

Her thoughts were jumbled as she walked behind Sasuke. Had he really been about to do what she thought he was going to? What scared her was that she wanted to kiss him.

She glared at his back. It was all his fault! It was his fault that she was having trouble thinking coherently!

* * *

><p>Suigetsu smirked when Sasuke and Sakura arrived back at their room in the inn.<p>

Sakura was glaring heatedly at Sasuke's back but there was a bit of confusion evident as well. Sasuke's jaw was tight set.

"Who shoved a stick up your ass?" asked Suigetsu.

"Careful, before I shove it up yours!" retorted Sakura, annoyed.

Karin on the other hand was glaring at Sakura. Probably had something to do with the fact that Sakura had been with _her _Sasuke-kun alone.

"Did you find out anything?" questioned Juugo.

Sakura flopped down on to her futon and said, "Yeah. We found out which pharmacy they all went to."

* * *

><p>"So, what are we doing here again?" questioned Suigetsu.<p>

Sakura released an impatient sigh. "We're here to see if the pharmacy has anything to do with the disappearances."

"Oh, yeah!" Suigetsu had left his beloved sword in the inn room.

They staged their entrances into the pharmacy carefully so that it would seem as though they had no affiliation with each other.

Sasuke went first, Suigetsu second and Sakura last.

Sakura browsed through the shelves which held all manner of products typically sold by pharmacies. Vitamins, first aid tools, medicines, toiletries and the list went on. She turned into then nest aisle, where she thought she would be able to get a better view of the place where people collected their prescriptions.

Sasuke already stood in that aisle, further down, and was pretending to examine a product.

Sakura stood a little ways away from him and pretended to examine a tub of vitamins, whilst actually peering through the shelves and staring at the prescription desk. At the desk stood a man, middle aged sakura guessed.

A woman walked towards the desk and smiled at the man, handing him a prescription. The man gestured for him to follow her saying, "The medicines are just through here."

The woman followed him through an open door, which Sakura could see had shelves of medicine inside.

A man arrived at the desk, waiting to be served. A couple of minutes later the worker came out of the medicine storage room. But there was no woman in sight. Sakura narrowed her eyes. Maybe, someone else had been waiting to help find the medicine inside and the worker had hurried back to serve other people?

The new customer handed the worker a prescription. The worker looked at it and said, "If you would just wait here for a few moments please!"

That was odd. Why did he not invite the man inside as he had the woman?

The worker walked into the storage room and came out a few minutes later holding the medicine. He placed it in a bag and handed it to the customer with a smile.

The next ten minutes passed with little going on. No new customers had arrived and the worker had taken to filling out some papers on the counter.

Sakura, in the meantime, was continuing to browse through the vitamins and sometimes she picked up a few, pretending to read the information on the label.

She glanced at Sasuke who was now in front of a shelve of nappies, paying rapt attention to the worker. Sakura almost giggled and covered her mouth to conceal the growing smile on her face. Sasuke? Nappies?

Another woman approached the counter and handed the worker a prescription. The worker gestured to the storage room and she followed him through. A few minutes later, the worker walked out with no woman in sight.

She looked at Sasuke who caught her gaze and tilted his head towards the exit. She nodded. He walked out and she followed a few moments later, grabbing Suigetsu on the way out.

She walked towards Sasuke with Suigetsu trailing behind and said, "You see that."

Sasuke gave her a rather exasperated look.

"Right! How could I forget that the great Sasuke does not miss anything?" she said sarcastically.

Sasuke glared at her and she flashed an innocent smile back.

* * *

><p>Sakura sat thinking. Patterns? Were there any patterns in the disappearances? In who disappeared?<p>

Sakura sat on the window seat of their room at the inn, thinking.

As she looked out the window, she spotted a bunch of teenage girls giggling as they spotted a rather handsome boy...

...And suddenly it clicked.

"Hey, do you still have that piece of paper with the names on it?" She asked Juugo. He nodded and handed her the paper.

She unfolded it and scanned the three names again.

"Did you notice something?" questioned Suigetsu.

She scanned the names again and nodded.

"I just noticed that the people at the pharmacy who didn't come out the storage room were woman and so are these women," she waved the piece of paper, "They're all women!"

"What does that mean?"questioned Karin.

"It means that whatever they're doing specialises in women," Sakura frowned, "And there's only one thing I can think of.

Comprehension dawned on Suigetsu's face and he said, "Are you saying...?"

"Yes! They're selling the women off as prostitutes." Sakura answered Suigetsu's unfinished question.

Karin's nose wrinkled in distaste.

"So, how are we going to stop them?" asked Suigetsu.

"It's simple really. Either me or Karin are going to have to give ourselves over?" she said.

"There's no way I'm doing that!" Exclaimed Karin, appalled.

"Then I'll do it." Said Sakura simply.

Sasuke's eyes rose to meet hers.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **_**Please review.**_

_Preview_

"_I think you're crazy! You're practically walking into the lion's den!" said Suigetsu._

_Sakura shrugged._

_This is the perfect chance to escape, thought Sakura._

_Preview_


	28. Chapter 25:A Storm is Coming

**Chapter 25**

"_Anger is the fluid love bleeds when cut."-C.S. Lewis_

Sakura stared at the opened package in front of her. Inside was a dress. A dress? It couldn't even be called a dress. She had taken the liberty of calling it "the undignified, completely non-respectable scrap of material that was meant to be a dress."

She sighed and began regretting her decision already. She was required to pose as a civilian and so Karin had been told to select a civilian dress. But this was more like a prostitutes dress!

So maybe it didn't really matter since she was supposed to be sold off as a prostitute anyway, but really?

The dress was black and lacy and went just past her butt.

Sakura shrugged. This was a mission. She had to do it if she wanted her plan to work. And her plan had to work!

She quickly changed into the dress and also into the black high heels that had also been given to her. She gaped at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like a slut.

She fiddled with the hem of her dress and quickly applied some dark eyeliner. No more makeup! She was only going to wear eyeliner! Not cake herself with a bunch of cosmetics.

Sakura exited the room with careful steps. High heels were hard to walk in for her. But who could blame her? She was used to wearing comfortable ninja sandals.

The first thing that greeted her ears was a wolf whistle, courtesy of Suigetsu. She glared at him as he said, "Wow! Those perverted old men will be queuing up for you!"

"You're one to talk. You _are _a perverted old man." She replied back and laughed at the affronted look on his face.

"You look lovely Sakura." Juugo said sincerely.

"No I don't. I look like a whore."

"Hey! I picked out those clothes!" yelled Karin. "I know!" replied Sakura.

Karin was close to lunging at Sakura for insulting her style in fashion.

"Now that you are ready, we will leave."

Sakura heard Sasuke's voice for the corner of the room.

"Is this dress really necessary? All those other women wore normal clothes and they got taken?" questioned Sakura while tugging at the hem of her dress. She was trying to cover some more leg.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Sakura sighed.

"Of course it's necessary. It's night time right now and all the civilians go to clubs and bars at this time. If you want to pass as a civilian, you're going to have to pretend that you just came from a club." Karin interrupted their silent exchange rudely.

Sasuke stood and said, "Juugo, you will stay here."

Juugo nodded respectfully.

* * *

><p>"You know..."Suigetsu started but then trailed off.<p>

He stared at Sakura.

"What?!" she snapped.

"I think you're crazy! You're practically walking into the lion's den!" said Suigetsu. Sakura shrugged.

_This is the perfect chance to escape_, thought Sakura.

They trudged through the snow and Sakura sneezed. "If I get sick before I have sex with a random guy, don't blame me!"

"You won't need to." Said Sasuke sharply. She turned to face him and said, "Why? I thought I had to pretend to be a prostitute."

Sakura had to say that she was not looking forward to it.

"You won't need to." Repeated Sasuke. Sakura huffed, frustrated at his riddle-like answers.

"Just get in and we'll follow your chakra signature to the location."

Sakura nodded, "Well, just make sure you get there in time! I don't want to have sex with a perverted geezer!"

They stopped outside the pharmacy. Suigetsu walked in first.

Sasuke and Sakura waited for a few minutes. Sakura was about to walk in when she felt a hand clasp around her wrist. She turned around questioningly.

"Don't do anything reckless." Sakura's eyed widened in shock. Was that concern? Or was it just a warning? She decided to choose the latter.

"I can take care of myself!" she said sharply and tugged her hand out of his grip. He let go of her hand slowly. Her fingers tingled, each nerve sensitized by his lingering touch.

Her face flushed and she spun around to walk into the pharmacy.

She walked towards a shelf and chose a product that was out of stock.

As she walked towards the counter, she decided to sway her hips slightly more seductively.

When she reached the counter she leaned forward and allowed the man to see a slight bit more cleavage than what was already on show. He was practically drooling!

He cleared his throat and said, "Can I help you?"

"I was just wondering if you had anymore of your iron tablets. You see, they are out of stock." She had ditched the idea of putting on a seductive voice.

"We may have some more in the back. Follow me." He walked through the door behind the counter and she followed hesitantly. She had to admit that she was beginning to get nervous. She looked back and saw Sasuke's onyx eyes staring intently through a shelf. Their eyes met for the briefest of seconds before she turned away.

Oddly, she felt reassured that Sasuke's keen gaze would be upon her.

* * *

><p>When they entered the storage room, Sakura noticed that it was rather bare. It consisted of only high shelves and a single bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The light did a poor job of illuminating only the center of the room whilst the rest of the room was haunted by shadows.<p>

Sakura shivered. There were lots of easy ways to be jumped in a room like this.

Before the thought had even finished forming in her head she felt someone approach from behind and strike a clump of nerves.

And then darkness.

* * *

><p>Sasuke felt Sakura's chakra drop alarmingly and his eyes widened for a moment before feeling her chakra settle to a low steady hum.<p>

It looked like she was in but had been knocked out in the process.

He gestured towards Suigetsu as he felt Sakura's chakra signature begin to move.

They left in pursuit.

* * *

><p>Sakura blearily opened her eyes and waited patiently until the room came into focus. She sat up quickly when she realised that there was a woman leaning against the door. The woman had shocking red hair and cunning blue eyes. She was dressed smartly in an elegant dark blue dress falling to her ankles.<p>

"Who are you?! Wh-what am I doing here? What do you want?" Sakura went into hysterics. She never knew she was so good at acting.

"She's perfect. Very exotic looking" said the woman, who Sakura was beginning to feel like knocking into next week

Sakura realized that there was a man standing in the corner of the room. He wore a maroon cloak. She could not see his face but she could see some sort of a tail, almost like a snake's tail. A flash of sadistic yellow eyes entered her mind but before she could grasp and study the image, it disappeared.

"She is." Said the man. His voice was familiar. If it didn't have the slight 'hissing' sound, she would have been able to recognise him. Or her…or it.

Sakura began crying. It was fake, of course, but they did not need to know that. "W-Why am I here?" She stumbled over her words in a good imitation of a damsel in distress.

"You are here because we need you. You are going to help us with something. And it will be worth your while."

"Th-then why am I tied up." She sniffed.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to that pose eventually." The woman laughed and Sakura wanted to slap some sense into her. Laughing, the woman was mocking her and had probably done so to many others. Mocking them as they sat helplessly waiting for their inevitable fate.

Sakura felt as though her heart skipped a beat as she realised that she was in enemy territory, alone, in provocative clothing. It did not help that the man or woman or it, sitting in the corner, was probably a shinobi. '_What if Sasuke doesn't come for me?'_ She thought. She shrugged the thought off. Even if he did not come she would not care, at all. She ignored her inner sneering _'Ch, Yeah right!'_. If he did not come then she would just have to find another way to get out of the situation she had somehow landed herself in.

And it was at this moment that Sakura realised that she had not once thought of her escape plan. She had thought of this mission as a normal one. She had classed herself subconsciously as Sasuke's teammate, even though she had had every intention of escaping before.

_'Oh, crap!'_ she thought. She decided that it was not worth troubling herself over these thoughts just yet. Firstly she had to get out of here and then she could have a mental breakdown later, she though firmly.

The woman gestured towards the man and they both began walking out of the door. Unfortunately, Sakura was unable to catch a glimpse of the person or its face.

"Don't even think of escaping." The woman warned. This was the woman who was obviously in charged. But what about the man, or woman or it, who accompanied her. Who was that? The leader behind the scenes? Or a bodyguard?

Sakura began struggling in her bonds. It was then she noticed the blue light glowing around the ropes. Chakra restraints. Sakura's eyes widened. They knew she was a shinobi. They had noticed. But how? Her chakra had been suppressed the entire time. Even when she had been out cold. There was only one explanation. Somebody must have recognised her.

However, Sakura did notice that the chakra restraints were not the kind that drained the bound persons chakra but the kind that merely used chakra to enhance the ropes strength, therefore making it difficult for the person to unbind themselves.

These people obviously had not taken her inhuman strength into account. She ripped the ropes easily, even though they had been chakra-enhanced.

She rubbed her wrists wear they had bruised and shrugged. She would just have to heal them later.

Approaching the door, she carefully figured out a way she could break out whilst making the least amount of noise.

She stared at the door handle. It was screwed in. She grabbed the first of the two screws and pulled. It came out cleanly and she quickly did the same with the other. The door handle came off and she kept it in her hand as she opened the door.

Outside was a long corridor and at the end was a man. She approached him quietly. He was whistling to himself with his back towards her and before she striked she thought, _'Ch, what an idiot!'_ With a quick, sharp jab to one of the pressure points on the back of his neck, he was out. She caught him before he landed to prevent noise and lay him down before moving on.

She followed the corridor for a while. _How big is this place, _she thought wildly. Approaching a door, she looked to the bottom to see shadows flitting around the narrow gap beneath the door.

Opening it a slight amount, she peeked in. She was instantly hit by a smell of…of…medicine?

She opened the door fully and her eyes widened.

_What the…?_

* * *

><p>"Sasuke, slow down! I can't keep up!" yelled Suigetsu whilst the wind roared tumultuously around them. What was going on? The weather had changed so suddenly.<p>

Sasuke did not answer. He was travelling fast, barely even placing his foot on the branches before he had moved on.

"She can hold her own for a bit, right?" yelled Suigetsu.

The next words from Sasuke were spoken normally and Suigetsu struggled to hear them.

"She is foolish."

"What?!"

A dinghy building came into view. It was old, and run-down. Broken windows, barred doors. There was something eerie about it. As if nobody who had ever come to this place was happy. As if the place had not seen happiness for a long time.

The kidnappers had chosen the perfect sight.

* * *

><p>Groans, screams and cries of despair could be heard as Sakura moved through the room.<p>

There were cubicle like structures from which the cries came, the inside was blocked from view by a worn, ragged curtain.

She pulled aside the curtain and gasped. A woman lay there covered in rumpled blankets. Her face was hauntingly pale, as if it had not see light or purity. There were shadows under her eyes, making her face look gaunt.

Sakura bent down beside the poor woman and placed a hand on her forehead. She sent a blast of cooling chakra to wake her and, somehow, soothe her. The woman jolted and squinted as the dim lights hit her pupils.

"Wh-who are you?!" stuttered the woman, her slight movements were heavy and misguided.

"Come on. We have to go!" Said Sakura urgently whilst pulling the woman up. She looked familiar and she instantly knew from where. This was Keiko's daughter.

"W-What?" The woman's legs gave out underneath her and she stumbled. Sakura caught her and supported her whilst they moved away from the cubicle.

"Look…I can't explain. There's no time! But trust me, you will be better off after this. And you can move on and have a life! But please, I need you to listen to me." Sakura looked unwaveringly into the woman's eyes. The woman nodded shakily and Sakura smiled.

"Right. Stay here." She helped the woman sit on the ground and then she walked towards all of the other cubicles.

One by one, she opened every curtain away and became paler by the second as she saw the woman in the cubicles.

Some of the woman lay there, completely unmoving. Others wore undergarments, and she could see the bruises adorning their wrists and thighs.

Sakura ran to a back door and pulled off the pieces of wood barring the door as if they were paper.

As the women gathered in the middle, looking like a herd of lost sheep, she bellowed, "Leave! Now is your chance!"

The women stared blankly for a while before the statements settled in and they began murmuring. Soon enough, they were running. Some stumbled, still weak from the drugs that had been injected into them to make them compliant.

Sakura ran to the woman she had left on the floor. She helped her up. Most of the woman had disappeared by this time. Only one or two, particularly disorientated, woman remained.

"Your mother…Higara Keiko." Sakura began.

The woman looked at her in shock. "How do you-"

Sakura shook her head. "Just tell her that I kept my promise. And I hope she will be happier from now on."

The woman nodded despite her confusion.

Footsteps could be heard in the corridor.

Sakura pushed the woman away, towards the door. "Leave!"

The woman hesitated. "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Just go! Quickly!" Sakura's voice was hurried and urgent. The woman had to leave. Did she not see that she would be killed if she remained anywhere near here?

The woman moved towards the door.

Before she left she turned and said, "My name is Hikari."

And then she was gone.

Sakura smiled. Light. Her name meant light. How fitting.

* * *

><p>They were close. He could feel her chakra. Like a beacon. There were a few woman running past them<p>

Suigetsu ogled at them as Sasuke kicked the front door down. It was quiet. Too quiet. The women were running away. Sakura must have completed the mission and freed them successfully. But if she had, where was she?

The corridors were dank and smelt terrible. There were no signs of life. The stone walls were covered in algae and moss.

The mangled body of a woman lay further down the corridor. That would explain the smell. She must have been killed for attempting to escape a while ago and then been left to rot.

After navigating their way through the maze of corridors, Sasuke was vaguely reminded of Orochimaru's hideouts, they finally reached a door.

* * *

><p>Sakura could hear footsteps. They slowly grew louder. Surely, a shinobi would walk with more precise, controlled steps. These sounded more like thuds, uncontrolled and clumsy. Shinobi were trained in the art of infiltration. They were used to walking, and running, almost soundlessly.<p>

Sakura looked upwards towards the ceiling. Bingo. An air vent. It would be dusty and unhygienic but it would have to do. She had to escape. It was the only reason why she had not put up more of a fight to oppose her participating in this mission.

Sasuke and Suigetsu would surely be in the building, or at least near. She could not just casually walk through the back door. They would see her.

She jumped up and grabbed on to the space in the air vent door. She placed her legs on the ceiling and heaved. The door creaked and scratched, making her wince. The air vent opened and she pulled herself up and into it.

Instantly, she began choking. The air was thick with dust and the air seemed to get stuck in her throat. She waved her hand around in front of her, hoping to rid the area of dust. It didn't work.

_'I cannot believe they don't keep these things clean so people like me can escape when we really need to', _She felt slightly affronted.

She began crawling through the vent, uncaring of the amount of dirt the undignified, completely non-respectable scrap of material that was covering her body was collecting. Perhaps she could send it off to a cleaner before sending it back to Karin, she thought sarcastically.

Suddenly, she stilled. She could hear murmurs from somewhere. Looking down, she realized that just in front of her was an air vent door looking into a shabby room.

She could see the woman, whom she had seen upon her arrival at this pathetic excuse for a building, and could hear her speaking.

"We'll get a high price for that one, so we will!" She said it enthusiastically, as if she was a collector.

The man, Sakura had seen him earlier, merely smirked. She could see the flash of his teeth from the dark corner he was standing in.

Suddenly, the man looked up. "I know you're there little Sakura."

Sakura barely heard her own sharp intake of breath before she was moving, She crawled as fast as she could, searching for another way out.

Her name. How did her know her name? They not only knew that she was a shinobi, but they knew her name.

The voice was so familiar. She knew it from somewhere. She almost snarled in annoyance.

Ahead was a door from the air vent. She dropped through it and landed on a moss covered stone floor. She was in a corridor.

_Of course, _she though sarcastically, _Where else?_

She began running. Where was the exit? To the right? To the left? Or maybe forward?

She entered into a room. It was lighter in here, courtesy of the crumbling walls. She climbed over the crumbling walls and out into the open. It was bright outside and very windy.

All of the women had disappeared by now. Around the building was a forest. Without a second thought, she ran for the trees. They would give her cover and make it more difficult for the enemy-Yes! Sasuke was the enemy!-to find her.

Before she could jump into the thick growth of greenery, a kunai whizzed past her right ear, almost scraping it. It landed on the tree in front of her and exploded.

* * *

><p>"What was that?" questioned Suigetsu. An explosion had resounded through the entirety of the building.<p>

Sasuke was already running back the way they came.

Suigetsu began to follow but back tracked when he saw a room. There were scrolls lying all over the table in the shabby room.

He began rifling through the scrolls trying to find anything of use.

Nothing. There were only finance accounts. But wait…

Something about the accounts didn't add up. The amount of money made did not equal the amount of money that had been hidden away. In fact, there was a large difference.

The money from this organisation was being shared. Between who?

Where did the other funds go? And for what?

* * *

><p>Sakura was sent flying backwards. She groaned on the impact of hitting the ground. Her ears were ringing from the sound of the explosion.<p>

She sat up, clutching her head, and sent a wave of cooling chakra through her head to take away the pain in her ears.

Before she could stand up completely, a wire had wrapped around her middle and dragged her backwards. She slammed into a tree and the rest of the wire held her against the tree.

"And so the tigress lost her claws." Said a voice.

Sakura's eyes snapped open.

The man from earlier removed his hood.

Kabuto. She cursed her stupidity. In her panic, she had been unable to recognize his voice.

His face was scaly. His eyes were serpentine-like and had purple markings around the outside. A long, white snack was slithering out of the bottom of his cloak. The snake was what she had mistaken to be a tail earlier. His hair was kept in an unkempt bowl cut.

Orochimaru was dead. Sasuke had killed him. So why was Kabuto still alive?

_Hell no! You have got to be freaking kidding me! _Thought Sakura.

She began struggling against the bindings in vain. Kabuto approached her.

He lifted her chin, as if to inspect her, and raised his eyebrows.

"You've grown very…exotic Sakura-chan." He said it mockingly, knowing that she would hate it yet be unable to do anything.

Sakura snarled. "Don't call me that!"

"And so came to the life the vengeful side of the tigress."

Sakura's eyebrows scrunched together. Was he narrating the happenings?

_'What a weirdo!' _She thought.

She charged chakra to her wrists and pushed forward. The wires broke but they also broke her skin.

When she was free, Kabuto jumped backwards easily.

"But what are you doing outside of Konoha Sakura-chan. And without a headband either. That is strange. Most Konoha nin are gullible and wear them as a pathetic sign of loyalty! I guess you are different Sakura-chan." He smiled, it was twisted.

"But I suppose you were always destined for greatness." He continues.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. What?

"Sasuke and Naruto were always the best."She subtly tried to pry more out of him.

"Yes. But they allowed their emotions to get in the way. Sasuke with his thoughts for revenge, and Naruto with his pathetic Will of Fire prattling." He explained.

"You, on the other hand…You may have been the damsel in distress, the one who always cried. But you were intelligent. You must have realized that only darkness can bring power which is needed to live in this damned world!" He continued, smirking.

He knew he was getting to her. He knew he was making her think, making her confused.

He watched in amusement as her facial expression contorted. Anger, fury, regret, guilt, confusion, stubbornness. This girl was so open, like a book.

She may as well have asked him to attack her.

* * *

><p>Sakura's eyes widened when Kabuto sped forward.<p>

She moved out of the way just in time. Another second, and his fist would have been protruding from her back.

He was faster than she remembered.

But so was she.

_Looks like I can finally loosen up! Being cooped up as a captive all day has made me lazy. _She thought whilst focusing her chakra to her hand, which was now curled up in a fist, and sped forward.

She aimed for his face, he needed a good smacking around, but he bent backwards so that she moved past him. He grabbed her wrist and easily flung her to the tree she was previously attached to but she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

She fell from above, readying the chakra scalpels she had formed rapidly. He looked up just in time to see her descending and the chakra scalpels flashed before she landed.

His arm became limp and immobile.

Sakura knew he was a medic-nin so she could not give him a chance to heal himself.

He had been caught off guard by her momentary hit to his arm, which effectively severed the tendons in that area, so she used this opportunity to form an offensive jutsu.

"Doton: Ganchūsō!" Rock pillars burst out of the ground which Kabuto was standing on.

She waited for the dust to clear. He should have been skewered.

Where was he?!

She felt something coming towards her from the right. But too late. Kabuto's leg slammed into her midriff and sent her flying away from him.

She landed on the ground, painfully aware of the cracking sound her ankle made. She attempted to stand but her leg almost buckled as her ankle was unable to withstand the weight. Kabuto appeared in front of her and grabbed her neck, pushing her backwards into a tree.

He wrung her delicate neck area harder.

Her eyes watered and blurred. Struggling for air, she clawed at his hands. She aimed her knee for his unmentionables.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

He lifted his knee to block her but her knee was imbued with chakra and his knee cracked when hers hit his.

She felt a slight jab on her arm and it confused her. What had caused it? But before she could do anything he had flashed backwards in order to prevent any more harm to him.

She gasped for air, as if she had been deprived of it for a lifetime. It certainly felt like it.

The jab on her arm must have been her imagination. She had been practically choking after all.

Before she could quickly attempt to snap her ankle back into place, a large, formidable-looking water dragon was bearing down upon her. As it came towards her, she could hear sounds like tumultuous waves.

Unable to do anything else, she threw herself as far as she physically could and managed to avoid the brunt of the water dragons devastating impact. However, she was hit by a wave of water which partially drowned her before it settled to lie innocently on the ground, creating a large puddle.

Her hair was plastered to her face as was her dress-'_As if the stupid dress wasn't before!' _Thought Sakura.

She snapped her ankle, as fast as she could, back into place whilst gritting her teeth to endure the pain. In order to relieve the throbbing pain, she sent a burst of chakra through the area. It effectively got rid of the pain but, for now, she could do nothing about the swelling on her ankle nor do anything about the numerous bruises scattered across her neck and collarbone.

Standing up shakily, she looked ahead of her. Kabuto had formed his own chakra scalpels and stood with them braced in front of his face. He smirked before charging towards her.

Whilst bracing herself she heard him mutter, "The end."

And then a black and blue blur slammed into him.

Sasuke was here.

* * *

><p>Kabuto was sent flying sideways. He had not even felt the chakra speeding towards him.<p>

Sasuke, he registered as he placed his palm flat on the ground and spun on it before flipping himself upright again.

Interesting, he thought. Madara had not informed him of this new development. Team 7 reformed, but without the blonde idiot.

Most interesting. Sasuke trailing after and protecting the, once upon a time, crying pink-haired girl.

His lips twisted into a cruel smile. Well, his plan had only been bought forward slightly. Sasuke was not meant to have found out that he was working with Madara but perhaps he could use this to his advantage.

* * *

><p>Sasuke narrowed his eyes as Kabuto caught himself and stood upright.<p>

He turned his gaze to Sakura and focused on the bright red welts decorating her porcelain neck. His eyes darkened before turning back to Kabuto.

"Do you like what I've done with her? The redness on her neck sets off the pink hair. Doesn't she look…delectable Sasuke-kun?" Kabuto smirked, knowing that he was hitting a nerve.

Sasuke simply stared. But there was something venomous about it. A thirst. A thirst to hurt the person who had harmed Sakura. Who had fucked with her. Who had marked her.

Because Sakura had always been his. That was right. Sakura had always been his and Naruto's. They had always protected her, in the past, no matter what. She was the one who had always needed protection and they had given it to her without a second thought.

It was different now. She was his _former _teammate, nothing more. She was a tool, and she was his medic-nin. She treated him. He could not have Kabuto hurting her, lest she be unable to heal him.

That was it. She was a tool and he needed her.

Kabuto watched this with interest. It seemed Sasuke had become even more detached since his leave from Orochimaru.

Sasuke unsheathed his Katana. The blade glinted in the sunlight.

Sasuke jumped forward and bought his sword up, preparing to strike Kabuto with a life-threatening blow.

Of course, Kabuto dodged easily. But Sasuke was relying on this and he moved in mid-air so that he was falling, face first, towards the ground. He buried the tip of his sword into the ground and with his palm flat against the hilt, he spun around in mid-air and kicked Kabuto in the neck with so much force that it would have easily broken his neck, if he had not already focused his chakra to that area to heal it rapidly.

Sasuke flipped backwards before disappearing and reappearing behind Kabuto, who turned around and raised his arms to block the Uchiha's hits.

Kabuto continued blocking, smirking at the same time. Maybe he would play with the Uchiha a little more before retreating.

* * *

><p>Watching Sasuke fight Kabuto, Sakura pondered.<p>

The way Sasuke had looked at her. His gaze had darkened and she had felt herself shiver, not because of her currently drenched form. Kabuto had purposefully provoked him, but why use her to do that?

It must have been an insult to Sasuke's strength, his leadership. The fact the Sasuke could not even keep 'his' medic-nin in line was surely a fact to gloat about.

Sasuke probably did not need any help, obviously, but Kabuto's "Damsel in distress" comment was agitating her and she just had to get rid of the annoyance.

So she decided to help Sasuke a little bit, not for anything other than showing off, by literally drenching Kabuto just as he had done to her.

"Suiton: Haran Banshō!"

Sakura summoned a huge amount of water from the sky which Sasuke managed to dodge just in time as it fell across the immediate area where Kabuto was.

Sasuke channelled a large amount of chakra to his hand to form his Chidori, which travelled into his Katana. The sound of birds chirping filled the air. Sasuke dipped his Katana into the water and the water flashed blue, the electric currents being conducted through.

The water would have been lethal if anyone stepped into it at this point.

As the water finally lay flat on the ground, forming a large puddle, Sakura cursed.

"Shit! He's gone!"

* * *

><p>He was gone. There was no body. Kabuto had obviously managed to complete a transportation jutsu before the water had hit him or whist he was submerged in the water.<p>

When he had killed Orochimaru, he had merely left Kabuto alive on a whim. He was no threat at the time. He was just an insignificant, slightly dangerous, loyal puppy to Orochimaru.

Sasuke raised his eyes to look at Sakura when she cursed.

She was seething.

He was slightly impressed with her jutsu. She had always had the lowest reserves of chakra in the past. It seemed she had learnt to conserve and use it wisely.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Sakura turned her gaze from the massive puddle in front of them to him.

Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow, a silent gesture for her to explain what the hell_ she_ was talking about.

Sakura huffed. "Did you not think to get rid of Kabuto when you killed Orochimaru?"

"But, of course, you are Sasuke Uchiha. Obviously, you know everything and _obviously _Kabuto wasn't a threat because you are so great!" She continued, bitingly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Kabuto is alive on the basis of a whim." He replied, slightly annoyed with her callous statements.

"Apparently, you leave everyone alive on a whim!" She threw back almost instantly. She crossed her arms and puffed out her chest, making her look slightly intimidating.

Sasuke stood up from his kneeling position and made his way towards her.

"You know nothing. Kabuto was not a threat."

"_Then. _But he definitely is now." Sakura glared at him. Could he not just accept that he had been stupid when he left Kabuto alive?

Sasuke looked at her. She would have looked threatening if not for the fact that he knew she would be unable to ever beat him in a battle.

He smirked. She was trying to be intimdiating, and she probably was to most people.

His smirk faded away though when he scanned her.

Her dress was soaked and clinging to her like a second skin, not that it was not before. She looked small in it. Soft. Delicate. _Weak._

He sheathed his katana as he continued his study of her.

There was something about her. Something challenging, something he was unable to understand and it annoyed him. She had never had this streak before. He had always understood everything, but he could not understand _her._

She was so annoying yet so weak. It annoyed him that she was unable to protect herself. She may have held her own against Kabuto for a while. But what would have happened if he had not come when he had? If Kabuto had gone full out on her?

* * *

><p>Sakura was beginning to get annoyed with Sasuke's silence. Could he not at least answer the question, what had been going through his head when he left Kabuto alive?<p>

She almost snarled. She was soaking wet, freezing her ass off, and he simply stood there, quietly observing.

She aimed a fist for his face.

He caught it and grit his teeth when he felt the bones in his hand creak with the force she had exerted. She had not channeled any chakra into the punch but she had always been very forceful, even in the past.

She flipped backwards and ran at him again, this time channeling chakra to her fists.

She was fast and unrelenting, determined. Sasuke knew that even a graze from her fists would greatly affect his own effectiveness in the battle. The only thing he could do was dodge her fists fluidly. He found an opening occasionally and used that to his advantage, striking her.

She punched a tree and it fell towards him, forcing him to move to the right where she was waiting, fists at the ready.

One of her fists nicked his arm and the bone throbbed with pain, caused by the pressure from her slight graze.

He moved it, checking to see if it was fit for use.

He unsheathed his katana once more. When they were children, Sakura had always lacked in skills and in jutsu development. This was redeemed by her highly intelligent mind, which he was sure was whirring rapidly with potential escape routes and possible ways to defeat him.

He ran towards her, using his unimaginable speed, back low in order to slice his katana across her legs as he moved past her, just enough for her legs to buckle slightly.

As he moved away from her he changed direction, feet kicking up dirt from the friction. He moved back towards her, rising from his low position in order to grab her and spin her around face first into a nearby tree.

Her back faced him and she struggled relentlessly until finally accepting defeat.

He spun her around and grabbed her arms so that her back was now against the tree and her wrists pinned above her head.

She did not seem the least bit intimidated by the position he now held her in. She was silently challenging, daring him to continue. To finish it.

But he did not.

Her wrists were so thin in his hands and he dragged his hands lightly over the skin and grabbed her hands instead.

Fear finally flashed in her eyes. Because this was what scared her the most. Closeness. What was he doing?

Sasuke dragged his fingers lightly over her knuckles. Her hands were so small, ironic considering she could shatter boulders with them.

She shivered slightly, Goosebumps rising on her skin.

Sasuke continued his exploration of her hands. They were soft. Delicate. Just like her.

He raised his eyes from her hands to her viridian orbs. They were staring at him wide-eyed, slightly afraid. But there was something else. Her lips were parted, breaths slightly labored.

She was so breakable. So easily broken. She could easily be taken advantage of. How many people had tried? How many _men _had touched her?

His eyes flashed angrily and his grip on her hand tightened. She gasped, her bones were grinding against one another.

He seemed to notice the harm he was inflicting and loosened his hold. He released one of her hands but kept the other in the same position, above her head.

Her hand came to rest, limply, by her side.

She was about to say something, attempt to be snarky perhaps, but all her breath left her when she felt fingers drag along the underside of her jaw.

Her skin was so smooth, like a child's. She would definitely be easily taken advantage of.

His mind roared at the thought of another man touching the skin he was touching now. Dragging their lips across her skin. Her calling another man's name.

She was _his_. Nobody else could touch her. And she would never touch another man.

* * *

><p>Sakura's breathing was heavier than usual. What was going on? No, she could not be feeling what she was. It was a familiar feeling but she would not identify or label it. <em>Ever<em>.

But what was he doing? She wanted to yell at him but she could not bring herself to move her lips let alone make a sound.

Sasuke leaned closer, their bodies barely touching which was a fact she was beginning to find increasingly annoying.

He was so close. Within her reach. He leaned down, face moving closer. He looked like a stunning statue in the now fading light.

She gasped when his nose dragged across her cheek and along her jaw.

Her hand, once limp, clenched by her side. She was trying to resist the urge to touch his face, to run her hands through his hair.

She slowly found herself giving in to the urge. Her arm lifted as Sasuke continued his exploration. His lips never once touched her skin, but she could feel the light teasing touches of his nose.

Her arm was in mid-air now, but it felt almost weighed down. Sluggish.

And then darkness.

* * *

><p>Suigetsu ran towards the area of the battle. There were large puddles of water everywhere.<p>

He held in his hands the scrolls he had deemed important enough to 'borrow'.

He had expected a loud and explosive fight. He definitely did not expect to see Sasuke standing extremely close and _comfortably _to Sakura.

He moved closer and realised that Sasuke was actually supporting Sakura, who was obviously unconscious.

Sasuke looked at him as he approached.

"Woah! What happened to her?!" Suigetsu questioned, dramatically.

"She is unconscious." Sasuke stated.

"I can see that." Replied Suigetsu, grinning.

"Kabuto was here. He must have injected her with a poison." Sasuke expanded on what he said before.

"Wait, wait!" Kabuto was _here?!_" Suigetsu was extremely confused now. He left for five minutes and everything went to pot. _Geez, _he thought.

Sasuke did not answer. He, himself, did not know what Kabuto was up to but it was definitely related to Kabuto's need for revenge upon him, for Sasuke had killed Orochimaru.

He lifted Sakura into his arms. She was light. Further proving his point of her being breakable.

He did not know what was going through his head when he had pinned her to the tree but it would not happen again. He would protect her from harm, for she was _his _tool. And everyone had to look after their tools.

He did not think about his need to keep her away from other men. He would deal with that later.

* * *

><p>Sakura's eyes cracked open and she winced. The light hurt her eyes, making her blurry vision worse.<p>

_'How many times have I fallen unconscious in the past six hours?'_ She asked herself, groggily.

She sat up and scanned her body. Kabuto must have injected her with something earlier. She cursed herself. When she had felt the jab she had done nothing, naively assuming that it was her imagination. She was a Shinobi and was supposed to pick up on things like this instantly.

She did a quick scan of her vitals. They seemed fine. She resorted to doing a more in-depth scan of her body by sending miniscule amounts of chakra to every part of her body, and then picking up the messages sent back to her with information. It seemed that her arm, the area Kabuto had injected her, had isolated the poison.

This was something she had trained her body to do. It had taken time but Yuuki had suggested she do it in case she was ever poisoned in a battle. Her body would set up small chakra barriers around the poison and slow down the effect it had on her. In this way, her battles would not be compromised.

She sent bursts of chakra into the isolated poison. It was a weak poison, and was easily diluted by her chakra so it would naturally flush out of her. It would be accompanied by a fever, if worse came to worse, but she wasn't leaving Team Taka anytime soon now. It was a lot healthier for the body to naturally flush out the toxins rather than a medic-nin speeding up the process, basically forcing cells to regenerate, repair and grow at a faster rate than they already were.

This was why medic-nin's tended to avoid healing minor injuries with chakra.

She might as well let a fever, if she was unlucky, run its course.

She cursed. Her chance for escaping was gone. Stupid Kabuto had seen to that. She would have been long gone if only he had not shown up to drench her.

As Sakura remembered this, she also recalled the fight with Sasuke. The adrenaline. When he had pinned her against the tree. The lust.

Sakura almost laughed. Ironic how the past always comes back to haunt you, in this case she felt the similiar emotions.

Lust definitely was a deadly sin. It was seductive and tempting in itself. Pair it with Uchiha Sasuke, and you have a _deadly _combination.

But that was all it was. Sakura was a female and could definitely appreciate the male anatomy. Sasuke was extremely handsome. Anyone could see that.

It was just her hormones acting up. She had not had any contact with a male for her entire life. It made complete sense.

The door opened and Suigetsu walked in.

"Hey! Feeling any better?!" He sounded almost concerned. Sakura almost laughed. 'Almost' was the key word there.

She nodded.

"I told you that you were walking into the lion's den. But, as usual, nobody listened and everything went to pot!" He said, grinning impishly.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "We did complete the mission successfully though. The women have been released."

"Yes! Buuuut-" Suigetsu started.

"Don't even go there! The list is too long." Sakura smiled slightly when Suigetsu laughed.

He reminded her of someone. A flash of blonde and cerulean eyes appeared in her mind but she pushed it out forcefully. She would not be going there. Not anytime soon at least.

Suigetsu calmed down and the look on his face morphed into seriousness.

"I actually need to show you something." Suigetsu said.

Sakura finally noticed the two scrolls in Suigetsu's hand. He unrolled them and laid them flat against the futon she was lying in.

It was a finance scroll. Dates and times of money withdrawals, inputs etc.

Suigetsu unrolled the other scroll. This one showed the amount of money made every day.

"Here and here…" Suigetsu pointed to one place on each of the scrolls.

Sakura finally saw it. The money made did not match with the money on the finance accounts.

Suigetsu looked at her. "I don't know where the money goes, but I do know that Kabuto was there and he is never up to any good."

"No…he isn't." She said vaguely. "You don't think that Kabuto is working with someone, do you?" She questioned suddenly.

"What makes you say that?" Questioned Suigetsu.

"Well…It's odd, don't you think? That Kabuto showed up on a mission that _Madara _sent us on." She subtly hinted at her theory.

Suigetsu's eyes rounded. "Y'know…you might be on to something here."

"Just don't tell Sasuke." She said quietly.

"Why not?" Suigetsu asked her suspiciously.

"For some reason, I get the feeling that Kabuto didn't count on us even seeing him let alone fighting him. Anyway, Madara and Kabuto working together is just a theory. For all we know, it could be wrong!" She explained.

Suigetsu seemed doubtful. But Sakura placed her hand on his, which was lying on the bed. He looked at her, confused.

She did not think. It was a sign of trust and she did not mean to. But whilst she had been a captive, Suigetsu had been almost nice to her and she found that he was the only person she could converse normally with.

The door opened suddenly. Sakura heard the click and instantly withdrew her hand from Suigetsu's.

* * *

><p>Suigetsu sat on the side of the bed, near Sakura, leaning towards her.<p>

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Get out!" He said it venomously.

Suigetsu got the message. He had somehow messed up and now was not the time to test Sasuke's patience.

The scrolls were still on the bed and he could not pick them up without drawing attention to them. So he left them and walked out of the room, throwing a worried glance back at Sakura.

Sasuke waited for the door to close, before turning to Sakura. "The scrolls?"

"Nothing important. Suigetsu grabbed the first ones he saw in case they were important but they're not." She lied as best as she could. Sasuke had always known when she was lying.

Fortunately, he did not scrutinize the scrolls any further.

Sakura noticed something. "Who changed my clothes?!" She questioned, rather nervously.

Sasuke stared at her, seemingly reveling in her distress. "Karin." He answered almost reluctantly. Her face broke into a look of relief.

He wanted to see her different facial expressions. Perhaps he should have said that he had changed her clothes?

His face darkened. Or Suigetsu? Considering how close they were when he came in.

Suddenly, the urge to run his katana through Suigetsu was overpowering. He wanted nothing more that to show her that he could do anything he wanted to take people away from her. To make her suffer. To _keep _her.

He quelled the urge by reminding himself that she was just a tool. A useful tool which he still needed to use before it got rusty and he could throw it away. For now, she had her use.

Sakura stared at him. He had always been difficult to read, to understand. That had not changed at all.

She wrung her hands nervously in her lap, "The mission's completed. So, can I leave now?" She was hopeful, even though before she had accepted that she would remain with Team Taka for a while. It would not hurt to try, would it?

Sasuke looked at her. It was pathetic, the hope that decorated her face so clearly.

"No. You will remain here." He said simply, knowing his short and unfeeling answer would aggravate her.

The hope left her face and was replaced by fury. "Why not? I've healed the injuries you had before."

"And you will continue to." He replied sharply, commanding.

"No! I won't because I don't want to!" She knew she sounded childish now. But, surely, the blame did not only rest with her. She had been kidnapped by her former teammate.

"Why can you not find another medic-nin? Why me?" She was confused and acting on anger now. She had taken this shit for too long.

"There are few medic-nin's as skilled as you." He said. His face was almost amused by her constant questions.

Sakura opened and closed her mouth a few times. She probably resembled a highly confused fish. Was that a compliment? He had stated it so simply, as if it was a fact that he had no opinion about.

She could not deny it though. Her chakra was suited to be a medic-nin and her chakra control gave her an, almost unfair, advantage in this field.

She may have been betrayed in the past, by the people she truly cared about, but that did not change her need, and want, to help people as much as she could. It pained her to see innocent people suffer. Now, she could heal and help them.

Sasuke watched her; she seemed to be battling with herself. Sakura really was suited to be a medic-nin. He could not imagine her as anything else.

She was so contradicting. Shinobi were meant kill for gain. Many thought that since it was to protect others, the killing was justified. However, killing was killing and murder was murder. Which side the Shinobi was on or what the act was for did not change a thing.

Sakura, on the other hand, healed people and she was good at it. It was a natural part of her. He had felt it in her chakra when she had healed him. Even though she had hated him, perhaps despised, her chakra was gentle and soothing and showed undeniable care and love.

It irritated him that he was not the only person who had felt that chakra. Who had seen this side of her. Many had probably been healed by her before and it annoyed him. She should only heal him and nobody else. And that was what she would do from now on.

"You will not heal anyone but me from now on." He stated, knowing that in the end she would comply because he would make her.

Sakura was now irate. She saw white. Asshole! He was ordering her around as if she was a loyal puppy which would do his bidding, would follow him around, yapping pathetically.

She remained quiet though as Sasuke turned to leave the room.

Just as he was exiting the room he heard her say, "I won't." It was said in a low, calm, controlled voice, but it was an unspoken promise. She would never heal him again.

He smirked. She would soon realize her own foolishness.

The door clicked shut.

* * *

><p>"What is it?" Questioned Madara, darkly and impatiently. Kabuto was beginning to get on his nerves. It did not help that the snake held leverage, in the form of Edo Tensei, against him.<p>

"I have suitable funds now. But it seems that I may have run into some trouble along the way." Kabuto said in a light voice.

Madara simply looked at him, silently bidding him to continue.

* * *

><p>Shizune sat by Tsunade. Tsunade's face was peacefulas she lay in a comatose state.<p>

Shizune, on the other hand, had never felt so much worry or anxiety in her life. Danzō had been named Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure. He had received a letter from the Fourth Raikage informing him of Sasuke Uchiha's attempted murder of Bee, the Raikage's brother. Danzō's first order had been an execution order for Sasuke Uchiha's treasonous acts.

It was surely tearing Naruto apart, Shizune thought worriedly. There was nothing they could do though.

The Fourth Raikage had also, in his letter, told Danzō about the approaching Kage summit. He would be accompanied by two bodyguards, of his own choice, to the summit, which was taking place in the Land of Iron. The Land of Iron was a neutral, samurai-controlled country.

This was not all that was troubling Shizune. Before Pein's invasion, Shizune had been aware of secret meetings Tsunade held with another woman. They had been seemingly working together. Shizune did not know who the woman was or why she was meeting with Tsunade.

But now that Tsunade was in coma, these secret meetings could no longer proceed. Would this affect Konoha?

Shizune had overheard one of their meetings. The woman had said that somebody, a girl, was in the hands of Madara and Tsunade had asked the woman to look after her.

After this, she had overheard another meeting.

_Flashback_

_Shizune was walking past the Hokage's office. She yawned, it was late at night._

_As she walked past the office she heard low voices and stopped dead._

_That was strange. Tsunade should have been lying half across her desk, fast asleep, and drooling over important paperwork._

_Shizune knew it was wrong but she could not help but lean a bit closer to the door. She had eavesdropped once before on one of Tsunade's meetings but…_

"_I presume she is stronger now." Said Tsunade._

_Shizune's eyebrows scrunched together. Who were they talking about?_

"_She has. She is strong enough to hold her own but she is nowhere near strong enough to do what we need her to do." Said a voice. Shizune recognized it. It must have been _that _woman's._

_Shizune heard Tsunade sigh and could imagine her rubbing her temples. "Sakura needs to get stronger."_

_Shizune's eyes widened. Sakura?!_

"_She has already progressed far with the jutsu that makes her chakra more potent." The voice replied._

"_What? Why was I not informed of this?" Tsunade snapped sharply._

"_I was not sure if I would be able to slip the paper into that medical jutsu book that she used to always carry around. Two years ago, I managed to. And ever since then she has been practicing that jutsu." The voice continued, explaining._

"_So, you think she is close to mastering it?" Questioned Tsunade, sounding slightly more relieved._

"_She is almost there. The issue is…she used the jutsu upon Madara." _

"_What?!" Tsunade sounded furious and confused, a combination Shizune had not heard from her for a long time._

"_Sakura has always had trouble controlling her anger. This was no different." The voice explained. Shizune could pick up the subtle worry in the voice._

"_If Madara figures out what the jutsu is, he will do anything to obtain the secret of how to master it!" Tsunade was anxious, Shizune could tell._

"_I know." The voice had said simply._

_End_

Shizune had the inkling that Tsunade knew of her eavesdropping, but she had never mentioned it. Tsunade had merely given her a warning look.

Shizune knew, from then on, that she was not to utter a word about the meetings nor was she to ask any questions, no matter how curious she was.

* * *

><p>Naruto poked morosely at his ramen. After Pein had attacked Konoha, the first thing Naruto had helped to rebuild was the Ichiraku ramen stand.<p>

The rest of the village was in desperate need of repair. Yamato, of course, helped with this.

The village was closer than ever now. Everyone relied on each other for help. Civilians had finally seen the devastating power that Konoha's enemies held and that this power could easily be utilized against the village.

However, even though the village had been through hell, children continued to run around happily and woman continued to gossip about the latest juicy information.

Life went on.

Naruto was happy that this was the case. He would protect his precious people, and everyone in the village was precious. He would protect them no matter what the cost was for him.

The Raikage's Shinobi had come. The redhead had beaten the crap out of him but he had endured it. For Sasuke. For Team 7.

The Raikage wanted Sasuke dead for the attempted murder of his brother. It was for good reason but Naruto could not accept it and would even beg, to protect Sasuke. He would beg the Raikage to spare Sasuke, to let it go this time.

At the end of the day, Naruto would never give up. Jiraiya had been taken from him. Murdered but he had forgiven Nagato, who in return gifted him with the revival of the dead in Konoha.

He would reunite Team 7 no matter what and they would do missions together. They would be a family again, just like they were before.

It was almost cruel. In the past, Team 7 had had such little time with one another yet they grew to understand each other, they had been so close in a way. Then, it was ripped from them. Like a newborn ripped from its mother's arms.

They had gone their separate ways and had not had any contact with one another for a long while.

Naruto had heard about Sasuke, what he was doing, how he was working with Akatsuki. Was he really nothing more than a common criminal now?

Sakura, however...he had not seen or heard so much as a whisper of her. It was as if she fallen off the face of the Earth. Nobody knew where she was or what she was doing.

Then, he had seen her. Finally. She was so beautiful. So beautiful that it hurt. But she was so detached, cold and cruel. What hurt the most was that he knew that he had deserved every word, every scathing look.

Yamato, had helped him up when she had left. Naruto knew that Yamato had kept something from him. Something about Sakura. It was in his eyes.

_Flashback_

"_She has every right to hate me. I understand."Naruto said quietly. "But it would suck if our bond was gone forever."_

"_Is it?" Naruto questioned in his moment of weakness. _

_Yamato had looked at him with pity, for Sasuke and Sakura had both left him and he had been unable to do anything. _

_But Sakura's words were still in Yamato's mind. Naruto had not heard her words. She had said, "Sometimes I wish we could be a normal team...like everyone else's...but that is not meant to be...the fate of our team is cruel and because of that each member of our team suffers."_

_She had hesitated but continued, "But I know that if we were a normal team...we wouldn't be driven to save each other as much. So, I know that in the end...everything will be just fine!"_

_Yamato had no idea how true those words were or if Sakura had even meant them. She may not have even been in her right mind because of all the emotions she was surely experiencing._

_But there had been something genuine about her words. _

_Even though she had said what she had, Yamato knew that things might not get better._

_Even if they did, things would get worse before anything good happened to Team 7. The cursed team._

_End_

Yamato had not told him. Naruto had not acted like he normally did and he did not question Yamato. He did not even know, for sure, that Yamato was keeping something from him.

Naruto raised his eyes from his bowl of ramen to look at the setting sun. Children were being ushered back home and workers were calling it quits for the day.

The sky was stained orange with streaks of fiery, blood red.

Something was coming. Something dark and evil, more so than he had ever seen or experienced. He could feel it and he knew that every other Shinobi could as well.

A storm.

"_If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm.__"-__Mahatma Gandhi_

* * *

><p><em>AN: It has been a long time since I updated this story and I hope that this long chapter can make up for it. Things are definitely beginning to come together in this chapter. _

_If anyone can recommend any good SasuSaku or ItaSaku stories, please leave them in a review. I feel as though I have read so many and I can't find anymore to read. So please leave recommendations in a review._

_I recently started a new story called "Everlasting". This is very different from the stories I have done before. It is very Team 7 focused and will definitely have a lot of SasuSaku._

_Also, I have finished the first chapter of another story called "The Sixth Sense". This has nothing to do with the movie of the same name. This story is an ItaSakuSasu love triangle but it is very different from the stories I have already read before. _

_Please review, it is very motivating._

_Sayonara!_

_Next chapter_

"_Ow!"_

_Sakura stared at her hand, which was now decorated with a large burn. _

_She watched, horrified, by the copious amounts of black chakra leaking from her hands._

_She could not control it._


	29. Chapter 26: Bonds

**Chapter 26**

__If anyone can recommend any good SasuSaku or ItaSaku stories, please leave them in a review. I feel as though I have read so many and I can't find anymore to read. So please leave recommendations in a review.__

_Thank you to Sakura-Haruno-Uchiha 10 for being a great beta._

_I do not own Naruto. All characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei._

_"There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness."-Josh Billings_

"Soooo…how long do you plan on locking me up and keeping me prisoner?" Sakura asked scathingly. It was midday, one of the few times she was allowed out of her prison cell. So maybe it was a well-furnished room, but who cares? They were still locking her up.

Sasuke had not come up to her 'prison cell' after she had told him that she would never heal him, two nights ago. She had seen him from her window, leaving the inn. What was he doing? He had been leaving frequently.

But he was here now.

She had not seen Suigetsu until now either. Jugo had escorted her downstairs by orders of Sasuke. Kind of pointless since he had not said a single word to her.

Winter was harsh this year. The ground was still decorated with snow, the trees sparse, but Sakura loved it. The snow covered the stains on the world, for it was tainted by war, blood, courtesy of the selfish, power hungry nature of human beings. The world's history would forever be poisoned by it.

The snow covered it all. It may still be there, underneath the pristine white cover, but it was not in sight and this was a relief for world wearied eyes.

Sasuke was training and ignored her. She grit her teeth. Nobody could comprehend how much she wanted to punch him right on his pretty face. But she had already tried and it had not ended well for her. Her face heated up when she thought about what had happened.

It did not help that she was mad at herself. The reason for this was that she had shows weakness in front of Sasuke. Something she never wanted to do. She had fainted, damn it! It was not exactly her fault, but still?! She should have realised that she had been injected by a sleeping concoction.

_What a pathetic excuse for a Shinobi I am. _She thought, bitterly. But she would fix this? After all, nothing was perfect, so she could fix it!

In the midst of her epiphany, she had completely missed what Karin had said.

"What?" said Sakura, sounding vaguely similar to a very confused Naruto. She instantly shook that thought out of her head. It was no good thinking about stuff like that.

Karin huffed, annoyed. "I said that you're stupid!"

"And why is that? Do tell." Sakura glared but coaxed Karin into explaining. What was the she talking about?

"Sasuke-kun never said that you couldn't walk around the inn. He only told you to not escape." Karin said, as if it was the most obvious thing and Sakura was a brainless idiot for not knowing.

That made no sense. Sakura had checked. There were chakra barriers around her room.

"If that is true, why are there chakra barriers around my room?" She questioned.

Sasuke stopped training with Suigetsu.

"What are you talking about? There are no chakra barriers around your room!" Stated Karin, sounding sure of herself.

"Yes, there are!" Sakura insisted.

"Well, Sasuke-kun didn't put them around your room. So, pray tell, who did?" Karin asked, sarcastically.

"I did." A voice said. Sakura rolled her eyes. Of course, who else?

She turned around to look at Madara, who had materialised beside Sasuke.

Sasuke had not even flinched at the sudden intrusion from an unwanted, at least in Sakura's case, guest. She glared at Madara. His one visible eye looked back at her, mockingly.

"I told you to keep your hands off of her." Sasuke said calmly, but with the sharpness of a deadly, poison embedded kunai.

"Indeed you did! But, you see, I was just afraid that the little blossom would escape. After all, she is intelligent just like Yuuki-chan!" His voice had reverted back to the immature, puerile tones of Tobi.

Yuuki? Sakura had not given a thought to her mentor, or the person who used to be her mentor.

Where was she now? Was she okay? Even though Yuuki had betrayed her, led her astray, she had still opened the path of strength to Sakura, the path of acknowledgment.

And Sakura knew that there must have been a reason for what Yuuki had done. That was she had believed _before_. Now, she was not so sure. Was Yuuki really as deceitful and immoral as Madara?

"She will not escape. I have made sure." Sasuke continued, unperturbed by Madara's explanation.

"Like hell you have!" Burst out Sakura. She could not take it anymore. Did that asshole really think he could dampen her burning desire to escape, that he could make her submissive?

Sasuke flashed a warning glare at her. Sakura stilled. She recognised that glare from when they were younger, when they were still a team…before team 7 was cursed to fall apart and walk the path of isolation. But they had always been cursed.

This was a glare that was telling her that he would handle it. That she could rely on him. How she knew this, she did not know. Sasuke may have not even meant to convey that message through the simple action, but he unconsciously had.

Could she rely on him?

_No way!_

* * *

><p>Madara watched, amused by the pink haired beauty's antics and Sasuke's stoic nature. She really was beautiful, exotic. He was beginning to use Kabuto's words now. It truly was a shame that she would most definitely be killed in his plots for casting eternal Tsukuyomi.<p>

Madara knew that the jejune voice of Tobi grated against Sasuke's nerves.

"See, see! I told you she was a spitfire!" Madara continued to use the façade of Tobi's voice.

* * *

><p>Sasuke could feel Madara's amused eyes on him as he watched Sakura. If Madara should dare to touch her…<p>

He would deal with that if it came to it.

Fortunately, she quieted when he narrowed his eyes. Good, she recognised the warning.

He turned to face Madara who, true to his earlier intuition, was watching him mockingly. He knew why.

Madara did not think that he could handle Sakura. "I can keep her under control. Your barriers are of no use."

"I was merely making sure." Madara's voice reverted back to his deep, nerve-wracking voice.

"Are you sure that old bonds will not…reignite?" He asked, his voice relaying how entertained he was by the happenings. But there was also a warning hidden beneath the, otherwise, normal question.

"Do not assume that anything like that will happen." Sasuke said astringently.

"Keep your end of the bargain Sasuke." The barely there threat had no effect on Sasuke.

"And yours? Kabuto was not part of the plan."

* * *

><p>What the…? How did Sasuke know that Kabuto and Madara were collaborating?<p>

She looked at Suigetsu, whose face mirrored her own. They were both confused.

He must have seen through her lies about the scrolls Suigetsu had showed her. He must have figured it out for himself. Sakura almost laughed, it was to be expected of Sasuke. He had always been able to see through her, even when they were younger.

And she hated him for that. It was what gave him the edge…amongst other things. He could read her as if she was an open book, he could manipulate her because he knew how her mind worked.

Had she not changed over the years? He should not be able to read her anymore.

Physically she may have changed, but mentally…she could not say the same.

He was so annoying!

She almost smiled. Ironic, since he always used to call her annoying. But he was!

She was pulled out of her internal breakdown by Madara speaking. "You weren't exactly supposed to find out about that." Madara had not said this in his Tobi, façade, voice. Instead he said it in his normal, deep voice. It made it all the more unsettling.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes further than they already were, effectively creating a death glare. If Madara was not a very powerful man bent on dominating the world, he would probably be sprawled on the floor, with several kunai protruding from his chest. Sakura amused herself with this rather pleasant image for a while.

"Well, Kabuto is a good asset. Do you not want to destroy Konoha?" Madara coaxed Sasuke, dangling the one thing he knew would sway Sasuke right in front of his face.

Sasuke remained quiet. "…yours and Kabuto's visions are not mine. I will achieve my goals by myself."

Everyone stared after this declaration. Sasuke was not going to work with Madara anymore?

"And what makes you think I'll let you?" Madara questioned.

"You need to get the Kyuubi to accomplish what you want…" Sakura looked up, more aware than she was before and listening intently, "I want to achieve my goals myself, that is all."

To most people that would seem like a rather ambiguous answer. But Sasuke was an ambiguous person so it was fitting.

Sakura could recognise the hidden message in his words. He wanted to destroy Konoha, he would do it by himself. He did not require anybody's help. His and Madara's plans did not necessarily coincide, but they were not conflicting either.

They would not get in the way of one another and they could still achieve what they wanted. Simple.

…But simple in an Uchiha's mind was never simple.

Like hell Sakura would live under Tsukuyomi.

To prevent it from happening, she knew she had to get to Naruto first.

* * *

><p>The temptation was great. Nobody was around, nobody would see. She would have an ample head start.<p>

In reality, it was completely different. Sasuke would know instantly if she left. She knew that he would be able to find her in an instant if she attempted to escape.

It was with great frustration that Sakura turned away from the, at the moment, very inviting, dark forest in front of the inn.

How was she supposed to get to Naruto if she could not even get a mile away from Sasuke?

Who said that saving the world from an evil, over one hundred year old, masochist was easy? She blew out a severely annoyed and loud breath.

Madara had left after Sasuke stated that they would no longer be working together. They were not really working together in the first place because they were both Uchiha's and Uchiha's were deceitful traitors who could never be content unless they were alone, with no bonds linking them to anything.

She may have left Konoha, but she had been shunned even when she had been loyal. Sasuke had, even after everything, been accepted by Naruto and the rest of the Konoha 11.

Deep down inside, Sakura was slightly jealous. They had shunned her even when she was loyal yet they continued to run after Sasuke who had left them without any encouragement. It was childish, yes, but it was only slight and she instantly trampled over that part of her to bury it deep into the recesses of her heart.

There were more important things to think about. Like how she was supposed to escape and get to Konoha?

There was nothing she could really do other than wait for an opportune time.

With that in mind, she decided to train. After all, there was nothing worse than getting rusty.

* * *

><p><em>Unknown<em>

Nimble hands fumbled with the thick rope, trying to do undo the complicated knot that had somehow formed during the raging wind storm.

Tsunade was in a coma, at the most inopportune time. Danzou had been made sixth Hokage. It was no longer an option to remain in Konoha. Danzou had the village underneath strict social limits and had created some sort of a 'lockdown'. Nobody could get in or out unless on official missions. He had ensured all of this before leaving for the Kage Summit.

She pulled a scroll out of a pocket, hidden amongst the numerous layers she donned. Sakura had given this scroll to Hinata Hyuuga when they had met at a battle with Orochimaru, and had asked Hinata to give it the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

_Lay off of me! I have not done a thing against Konoha since I left. Leave me be!_

Tsunade and her herself had laughed over it for a while. It was so Sakura.

This was not time to be sentimental.

The only option now was to follow the blonde and his team to the Land of Iron. The reason for Naruto, Kakashi and Yamato going there was obvious, to convince A, the Raikage, to forgive Sasuke for his misdeeds.

It would not work. Definitely not. But it would give her an inkling of what was going on at the Kage Summit and it would also take her to the person Tsunade, and herself, had placed their hopes in.

Sakura.

* * *

><p><em>Weak extra baggage troublesome annoying…<em>

This was the trick to the Potency Jutsu. To think of every bad thought, every bad memory she had ever had.

_Weak useless shameful annoying…_

She was not sure how it worked, but thinking this somehow made her Chakra potent and malignant. It must be some sort of a hormone being released in great quantities and it affected her chakra.

But if it was a hormone, why had she never seen any other person use this Jutsu. Maybe, only she could do it.

_Weak weak weak annoying annoying annoying…_

Black chakra flared to life around her hands. She smiled. Even after all this time, she could still do the jutsu.

Her smile faded. So that was how powerful memories were.

"Ow!"

Sakura stared at her hand, which was now decorated with a large burn. She watched, horrified, by the copious amounts of black chakra leaking from her hands.

She could not control it.

Her hands continued to sizzle underneath the crawling black chakra. It was like…like it was something alive.

And then it erupted around her.

She stared, partly in shock, partly in horror, and partly in awe. Was this what darkness could give you?

It resembled flames, flaring to life in the way that they had.

She could feel the awe leaving her, replaced by shock and trepidation.

She tried to get rid of the thoughts that her given this power. This dangerously seductive power.

No! She shook her head. _Don't let it control you!_

She tried but the thoughts were whirring in her head. She could no longer tell the difference between each memory.

"Amaterasu!"

* * *

><p>"What the hell is that?" Suigetsu yelled. Sasuke had been planning their next move, when every member of Team Taka had felt dark chakra explode around them. They could not see it, but they could feel it's malicious intent even where they were.<p>

Jūgo and Suigetsu ran to the window and shock immediately made itself known on their faces.

"It's Sakura!" Suigetsu yelled, he spun around, ran to the door and flung it open before realising that something was missing.

Sasuke was already gone.

* * *

><p>Sakura watched in something akin to relief as the black flames of Amaterasu 'ate' her black chakra as if it was feasting.<p>

But…there was another part of her. A part of her that wanted the flames to come back, to give her the power they once had. Disgusted with herself, she dampened those deep, dark desires and watched as the last of the black chakra disappeared until only Amaterasu remained.

Even now, after everything, Sasuke could still beat her. He could still defeat her most powerful jutsu.

She turned to look at him as he retracted the black flames. She blinked and he was in front of her.

He grasped one of her hands and she almost shivered. What the…?

It was only then she realised that he was studying the terrible burn marks decorating her hands. He paused in his study and looked at her.

His face was as stoic as always, that had not changed. But his eyes had. In them, was something akin to slight shock. Of course, it was barely visible but it was there.

Sakura had never, not even in the past, been able to read Sasuke, at least not very often. But one thing she had registered and tucked away in her mind was that his eyes were his most expressive feature.

Of course, it was very rare that there was any emotion present in them, but when it was she had been able to see it.

"What was that?" For Sasuke to even ask a question was a once in a blue moon occurrence. But here he was, asking a question.

It made her feel somewhat smug that he did not know everything about her because he always seemed to.

"Sakura!" The rather tense moment broke and she looked to the side to see Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin towards them.

It had been Suigetsu who had yelled her name. She smiled shakily, trying to look as confident as possible. She wanted to look as though she had known what she was doing, that she had intended for the black chakra to thunder around her in the way it had. She did not want to admit that she had lost control, that she was unable to master her own jutsu.

"What the hell was that?" He skidded to a stop in front of her. He looked at her, eagerly awaiting an answer.

That was before he noticed her hands, which were enclosed by Sasuke's hands.

She tried pulling her hands out of Sasuke's but he did not allow her. Instead, he gripped them tighter. She looked at him, partly annoyed and partly mystified.

He was looking at Suigetsu in a way that made her feel slightly vulnerable. Suigetsu seemed to notice this because he said, "I was just asking." He laughed, but Sakura could hear the awkwardness in it.

She took pity on him. Hell, she would take pity on anyone who had to suffer Sasuke's glare, she was talking from experience.

Karin was furious, to say the least. But even the devoted fan girl sensed that now was not a time to test Sasuke. This was the only good thing that Sakura could think of right now.

"We should go and finish the planning stage." Jūgo said, tactfully trying to give a hint to Karin and Suigetsu that the three of them should leave.

Unfortunately, in Sakura's eyes, it worked.

* * *

><p>Sasuke had, practically, dragged her protesting ass upstairs.<p>

"I can heal myself!" She said indignantly. She would not mention that she had still not recovered from her fever, which had passed yesterday night.

"Your chakra has not replenished yet."

Damn it.

"Well…I can still take care of myself."

Oh God. Even she knew how pathetic that sounded. She wanted to face palm, so much for appearing confident.

Sasuke smirked at her, sensing her discomfort. She shot back an annoyed glare which only served to further amuse him.

At this point, Sakura was seriously wondering why Sasuke was acting so weird today. He was amused by her antics? He was the most contradicting person who had ever existed on the face of this Earth.

He sat down in front of her and she looked at the tube he had. He squeezed some of the cream out; it was a mint green colour which was fitting as it was a healing product.

He grasped her fingers and began smearing the product all over the affected skin. She tried to sit still whilst he did this but it was difficult not to fidget.

The cream was cool and she almost groaned as it gave relief to her impaired hands. Sasuke did not look up at her rather embarrassing sigh, something she was grateful for.

To cover up her moment of weakness she decided to talk, "If you have advanced medical products like this, why are you keeping me here?"

* * *

><p>She sounded rather confused. He could not decide if it was annoying or endearing.<p>

"Shinobi sustain major injuries occasionally. You should know this." He stated it matter-of-factly and he knew that it made her feel stupid.

"But, of course, you are Sasuke Uchiha and, ya know, since you are all macho and strong, you don't have to worry about that now, do you?" She said most of it sarcastically.

He had noticed it, that Sakura seemed to have crafted her tongue into an offensive weapon.

He merely cocked an eyebrow and changed his hand motions from smearing the product, to rubbing the product in.

He smirked, and felt rather smug, when he heard Sakura's quiet, sharp intake of breath.

* * *

><p>The cream had given her relief. Now, she felt as though her hands were flaming hot. Hell, she felt as though her entire body was on fire.<p>

Was he purposefully doing that? Rubbing it in so slowly and seductively?

Forget that, she was silently hyperventilating. Finally, she exploded.

"Stop it!" Her breathing was harsh.

He did not stop, and continued the slow motions which were the source of her distress.

"Stop what, Sakura?" He lazily smirked at her; he was beginning to piss her off and he knew it.

"Quit it!" She tried pulling her hands out of his but his grip was hard and he tugged her forward.

He leaned forward until he was barely a hair's breadth from her face and said, "If I was Suigetsu, would you be saying the same thing?"

His smirk had faded by now and he had reverted from the almost-teasing tone to his normal monotone.

"What?" Sakura was now thoroughly confounded.

Sasuke did not repeat himself. He continued the motions even though the cream had long been absorbed by her skin. He did not seem to be focusing on that though. His motions were harder, more violent, and her hands were beginning to feel the effects. The burns had not yet completely healed and were still delicate. It did not help that her bones were grating against one another because of Sasuke's painful ministrations.

"You're hurting me, stop!"

And he did.

Cool, large hands remained on hers but he had stopped the rubbing motions so suddenly, that it was almost as if she had just said that Itachi and his entire clan were alive and it was all a really bad dream.

She watched all this with astonishment.

He stood, his body tense and almost knocked the chair he was sitting on over.

"You can do the rest yourself."

Sakura did not even flinch when the door slammed. Instead, she continued to stare in stupefaction.

_He stopped._

* * *

><p>"Tenten, what do you mean that there is no point? Of course there is. If the flames of youth continue to burn then there is always a reason." Rock Lee stated, fire burning passionately in his eyes as he took on his signature thumbs-up pose.<p>

Tenten smiled slightly. At least she could always rely on one thing to be the same when everything around them was falling apart.

"There _is _no point though!" She continued her insistent argument. The ever imminent war was making her feel like a brat, and she was disgusted with herself.

She almost felt as though she had become compliant, was allowing the enemy to throw everything at them and not showing any resistance.

What had happened?

Tenten and Lee had been exiting the Hokage tower when they had heard bells.

The bells on the roof of the Hokage tower only ever rung when there was a village funeral. The last time they had rung was when the Third Hokage had died, during Orochimaru's invasion, and many others had fallen trying to protect the beloved village they were so fiercely loyal to.

So, when they rung at a completely random time, such as this, it was not exactly an absurd idea to go and see what was going on. In fact, it seemed like a very good idea at the time.

_Flashback_

A woman, donning a black cloak, was pulling at a rope, the rope which just happened to ring the bells.

At this point, there was no choice but to investigate. So, they did.

The woman turned around when she sensed them.

Tenten stood stock still when she saw her face. She had barely even taken in the woman's features when she had felt her entire body tense up.

The woman looked so astoundingly familiar that it took all of Tenten's breath away. The most confounding thing, however, was that she could not even recall who this mysterious woman was.

But she had felt in deep in her core, in her heart. Her entire being recognised this woman.

Shinobi flooded on to the wide expanse of roof before she could even comprehend what was happening. All the Shinobi had curious looks on their faces as they talked amongst one another, why had they been summoned?

_Confusion everywhere_

When Tenten finally could see past everyone, disappointment and a sense of abandonment filled her.

The woman was gone.

_End_

Even now, Tenten could not remember anyone in her past that looked like this woman. It did not exactly help that she could remember nothing from her past.

It was a little known fact, but Tenten was an orphan who, according to the carers at the orphanage, had been left their by a few passing Shinobi who had come across her in the chilly environment of the Yukigakure, the Village Hidden in the Snow.

She did not know a single concrete thing about herself other than this.

She was shaken out of her reverie by Lee's continuous raving about the power of youth.

He had proposed that they go after the woman and attempt to track her. She had said it was pointless after they had consulted Neji.

"Lee! I said that it's pointless!" The confusion she was experiencing mixed with the painful reminders of her past were beginning to make her temper roil.

"Then give up. Walk away." Said a voice from the sidelines. She turned to look at Neji.

"I agree, that now there is not much hope of tracking this woman you are talking about." He continued, "But you are talking about more than just one thing being pointless."

Those Hyuuga eyes really could see everything.

She bowed her head, slightly ashamed of her actions. Neji was completely right.

* * *

><p><em>Unknown<em>

Fools. Konoha's security under Tsunade had been tighter and the protection around the village more rigorous. Under Danzou's regime, the Shinobi had turned into a crowd of lost sheep.

Her simple plan had worked. Ringing the bells had effectively created a distraction and had drawn the Shinobi guarding the outskirts of the village back inside the village.

This gave her a getaway route.

The west wall had been completely unguarded. Fools, she thought over and over.

The west was the best place to head to get to the Land of Iron.

And to Sakura.

* * *

><p>It seemed that her hands really were destructive. Sakura flexed her fingers.<p>

She had been meditating in a field, not far from the inn they had moved to.

Her jutsu earlier, that she had lost control of, had caused a lot of damage to an area in that village. Sakura had practically begged Sasuke to pay the expenses. Yes, she had been reduced to begging.

But she was not just going to leave that poor innkeeper to pay for the damages that had been inflicted upon his cosy inn. It went completely against her morals.

Sasuke, after a rather exasperated look, had paid.

Then, they had travelled to a small town, west of the village they had previously stayed in. It was nice place, and had a nice atmosphere.

Even though it was thought to be small town, it was actually a rather big village. When they had arrived, an evening festival had been going on and the villagers were enjoying themselves buying Takoyaki and such, the smell had her drooling.

It was such a simple thing but so beautiful to watch. It was comforting to watch other people go about their daily lives and know that they did not have the messed up life she had.

This bought her back to her current problem. Why was she not able to control her jutsu? It was a rather pressing issue and was beginning to bug her. There was no reason she should not be able to.

Unless…unless she craved the tenebrous power it gave her. But she did not want that. Not at all!

_Do you? _A licentious voice whispered in the back of her mind. She shook her head, disturbed with herself.

She felt, more than sensed, someone stand beside her.

"A Shinobi should be on guard at all times and remain aware of their surroundings."

She rolled her eyes, "Shut up. You know that nobody could sense you, even if they tried, when you hide your chakra like that"

He released a breath. Not a laugh, of course it was not a laugh.

They sat like that for a few minutes. It was admittedly awkward at first, but it soon became peaceful. She closed her eyes and leaned back on her palms, the grass tickling her fingers.

"I like when it's sort of windy like this." She stated randomly.

She knew that Sasuke had turned to look at her. She opened her eyes and began rambling, "Well, ya know, it's so cold and fresh." She continued her incongruous speech, "When I was a kid, I used to think that if a big gust of wind came, it would blow away everyone's problems away and everyone would be happy because they would be fresh…Oh, and I used to think that I would fly away if the wind came really hard because I was only a kid and, well…kids aren't very heavy." She trailed off lamely.

Then, she noticed something. Sasuke had not raised an eyebrow at her once during her bizarre, out of the blue, speech. He had not even glared at her, a way to tell someone to shut up.

He had just listened, as if she was talking about something important.

Her face reddened and she turned away again, to look at the star-littered sky.

"Come on!" She burst out suddenly, "You cannot have gone a single day as a kid without thinking something ridiculous like that?!"

He remained silent, merely staring at her and she knew that he was rather entertained by her antics but it did not deter her.

"Not one ridiculous thought?" She continued coaxing.

Sasuke continued to stare at her, making her feel as if she looked like a clown with a large 'stare at me' sign on her head.

"Okay, okay! I get it!" She said, laughing.

* * *

><p>She talked non-stop, it was almost comical.<p>

It surprised him, slightly, that she could still talk to him good-naturedly, as she was.

After she had stopped her illogical speech, she quieted.

"Thanks by the way."

He looked at her again. Her eyes were closed, and long pink eyelashes brushed her cheeks.

Her face was not the porcelain white colour of appearance obsessed higher-up woman. It was not tan but it was not white either. Her nose was not sharp, but it was soft and feminine.

Her lips were her best feature, he decided. They were small but full, the lower lip being slightly plumper and darker than the upper lip. Her lips were a dark, blood red most of the time, due to her constant habit, he had noticed, of chewing her lips.

She opened her eyes when he did not answer.

"…for the cream. It really helped." It was sincere, not said out of courteousness or for appearances sake. It was a heart-felt thank you.

This was one thing she had always had, Sasuke observed. She put her entire heart into simple things, like a thank you.

"I don't care."

She huffed out a breath, laughing slightly, "I know. It was just a nice gesture."

"I'm not nice." It surprised him that he could have a somewhat normal conversation with her.

"Trust me, I know that as well." He liked that she could accept it and that she knew that this was the case.

She laughed again. It was not the sarcastic laugh he had become accustomed to. It was not completely graceful yet but it was genuine…happy.

Was it not yesterday that she had been furious with him?

* * *

><p>It surprised her that she could talk to Sasuke as she had. This was something Naruto and Sasuke had been able to do with each other; they had been best friends, practically brothers. She could not recall a single time that she had just talked with Sasuke.<p>

What shocked her even more was that he actually participated in the 'conversation'. It may have been only a few sentences but that was more than she had ever thought was possible.

This was beginning to get too confusing so she decided to call it a day. She stood up and said, "Well…goodnight."

She began walking away, slightly remorseful that she had decided to leave but she stopped dead.

"When I was a child, my mother told me that Thunder would only sound if you did not leave your shoes on the front porch."

She smiled…

"I believed her."

…and walked away.

* * *

><p>"You do know that I think this is stupid, reckless, completely immoral, did I say stupid, idea." Sakura said, knowing what the answer would be.<p>

"And what makes you think Sasuke-kun cares?" Karin said, snobbishly.

"Gee, I dunno. I think it's because I'm his long lost great Grandfather, in disguise, and I was told to warn him that he is making a grave mistake."

Suigetsu laughed and Karin could not formulate a reply to such an outrageous confession, so she crossed her arms, turned away and "hmphed".

Sakura almost snorted in laughter and covered her mouth. Suigetsu laughed harder.

Sasuke watched, pissed off, as Sakura leaned on Suigetsu to prevent from falling over, she was laughing so hard.

Suigetsu placed a hand on her shoulder when she felt a tug at her arm and someone pulled her away from him and steered her forward.

She walked faster to keep up with Sasuke's fast pace and then eventually had to run and he sped up.

"What, pray tell, are you doing?" She questioned as the smiled faded from her face.

"We have to go faster. You are slowing us down." He looked at her sideways as she opened and closed her mouth indignantly.

It made her lips look all the more appealing.

"We were just laughing…" She said, rather abashed.

He did not like that she felt uncomfortable.

"I know, Sakura."

She looked at him, completely gobsmacked at his acknowledgment.

She was about to respond but he tugged her harder as he sped up and she almost fell flat on her face.

Sasuke smirked when she wisely decided to focus on running.

* * *

><p>He had told her to stay hidden as he fought the Raikage at the Five Kage Summit.<p>

She had protested but he had quieted her with a single look and shoved his cloak on her as a last minute precaution and warning for her to remain hidden.

She had thought of escaping but there were samurai everywhere and she did not want to alert them.

Then Gaara had come. He had said that his eyes had once looked like Sasuke's but they had changed.

She could not help but dread if the same thing was happening to her because of her jutsu. She was distracted by the loud cascading of sand and a warm body lift her from her current position.

She struggled, was it a samurai?

No.

* * *

><p>The red-headed idiot had prattled on and on about Naruto taking the darkness out of his life and about how he could finally see. It became rather repetitive.<p>

But then, sand had cascaded down towards them.

Sakura.

He flashed towards her. Fortunately, she had remained hidden.

He gathered her up in his arms, she still held his cloak, and ignored the way her body felt tucked against his. She gasped and began struggling which made him grit his teeth harder. Her body wriggled against his in a way that would make any testosterone-filled man his age groan.

He ignored it and slung her over his shoulder. She snarled and struggled more and he realised that his Susanoo was still activated.

The horrifying monster surrounded him, akin to a malicious, protective barrier. Sakura struggled as hard as she possibly could and eventually fell out of his arms. She shuffled backwards on the floor and stared up, with absolute horror painted on her face.

Sasuke stared at her waiting to see her reaction, she should know that he is capable of inflicting fear such as what she was feeling. He wanted to see her scared, to know that she was safe from him.

Then her wide eyes softened.

And Susanoo very nearly disappeared. He glared at her and Susanoo returned, as menacing as his glare.

She merely looked at him with that…sadness in her eyes. He almost snarled. Why was she-?

_Thud_

A rock fell from the roof…followed by another, and another.

He turned towards Karin as the area in front of them caved.

"Have you located Danzou yet?" Susanoo slowly receded as Sasuke walked forward.

"Y-Yeah." Sakura almost felt sorry for Karin.

"Show me." His voice was dark than ever and Sakura shuddered.

"What about Suigetsu and Juugo? Their chakra's still…" Karin trailed off as Sasuke's chakra flared dangerously.

"Leave them be! Danzou comes first." Sasuke looked at Karin, his Mangekyou Sharingan eyes spinning, the promise of pain if she denied.

"No _freaking _way am I leaving them!" Sakura slowly stood up and winced as her knees scraped against the floor.

Sasuke turned those dangerous eyes upon her and before she knew it he was in front of her and his hand was on her neck.

He did not instantly tighten his hold on her, so she was not suffocating. _Yet. _"Do you mean Suigetsu, _Sakura?"_

She shook her head and he tightened his bruising hold on her neck. He did not believe her.

He leaned in until his lips were pressing against her small ear. "Tell me the truth."

The position may have seemed intimate to an onlooker, and it was, but his barely-there threat scared her.

But she persevered, "What will you do Sasuke?" Her eyes held absolutely no fear. None.

"You will not search for him." Her eyes narrowed, until they were almost slits and she resembled an angry cat.

"You can go without me and I can follow. I won't try to escape." She looked at him as he moved away from her ear, staring directly at his blood red eyes-unafraid of a genjutsu he may suddenly decide to pull her into.

"I don't trust you."

That actually might have hurt. Maybe. Just a little.

She kept a straight face and said, "Well…you'll just have to trust this _extremely _trustworthy person in front of you!"

"I will kill them both if you go." He stated, ignoring her rather pathetic attempt at lightening the tense atmosphere.

She stared at him. What the hell?! There were few things she felt when it came to Sasuke, but these few things she did feel were distinct and overwhelming to the point of insanity and it confused her. But she knew what she would feel if Sasuke did not let her go and find Suigetsu.

"I'll never forgive you." They say that few words can have the impact of a storm…but was it really supposed to evoke a storm in her as well as in Sasuke. Was she really supposed to feel betrayed after everything?

His grip on her wrists softened and his eyes lowered. He released a breath. Her pink hair hit his aristocratic nose as he leaned in, almost as though he was inspecting her.

Finally, she could no longer take his _disturbing _fascination and quietly said, "What?"

He let his forehead fall against hers and all she could see were the tangled black and pink hairs and his blood red, beautiful eyes and _her_ blood was pounding through her body, desperately seeking a way to let out the pleasant buzz of intoxication.

His eyes flickered down to her lips, watching her chew them. It was distracting and so…

"You're annoying."

Sakura almost laughed. How fitting. She probably should feel angry at his blatant statement, she probably would have in any other situation, but she just could not bring herself to hate it. There was something strangely comforting about the familiar line he had always bestowed upon her when they were younger.

BAM BAM BAM

If they did not leave this corridor now they would be caught and Danzou would escape. Sasuke looked at Sakura once more and released her.

"Ch, do what you like."

He remained in front of her and said, "Return to us in thirty minutes."

She could not help but ask, "And if I don't?"

He lowered his eyelashes, long shadows streaked down his face.

"Got it." She did get it. The shadows on his face did make his, already, otherworldly features even more enhanced but it unnerved her as well. The shadows seemed to follow him wherever he went, almost as if they were waiting to claim him as their prize. Perhaps…they already had.

Sasuke's bangs flew up as she streaked away from him, wasting not a single second in her search for _both _Suigetsu and Jugo.

Karin was by now standing up, albeit shaking.

"Hurry up and show me." He said to her.

"O-Okay."

And without a backwards glance Sasuke left.

* * *

><p>"What the f-?" Sakura quieted herself. "I almost stepped on you! Idiot!"<p>

"Sakura!" Suigetsu exclaimed. He had liquefied himself in order to search for Jugo, they had been separated during the battle, but had ended up narrowly missing Sakura's foot.

"Get yourself together!" She snapped at him. "I have to get back to Sasuke or he'll..."

"I get it! I need to find Jugo first though." Suigetsu said, hurriedly. He was now even more aware of the limited time they had. Sasuke's wrath was not to be messed with.

As if on cue, they heard a strange sound. They turned to see Jugo extending a piece of his flesh to an unconscious samurai. The flesh pierced the samurai and began…feeding. Sakura could only guess that Jugo needed the Samurai's chakra to return to full potential.

"Ugh, that is seriously messed up Jugo!" Suigetsu had now returned to solid form.

Sakura stared at Suigetsu with raised eyebrows, "That's coming from you, hypocrite!"

"Hey, what's that supp-" Suigetsu was cut off by Sakura. "Jugo, we have to go."

She helped him stand up and glared at Suigetsu so that he would move.

"Where's Sasuke anyway?" Questioned Suigetsu, continuing towards Jūgo.

"He went with Karin to find Danzou. I convinced him to let me come and find you and Jūgo." She explained, looking around them to ensure that no samurai were around.

"You _convinced _him! How? You finally satisfy him."

BONK

It just so happened that Suigetsu solidified at that moment, only to be hit by one of Sakura's fists.

"What…?"

"Just shut up Suigetsu." Her face was slightly pink, due to his unnecessary innuendo.

He smirked, sharp teeth bared in a wild expression.

Out of the corner of Sakura's eyes, she saw a black shadow. Her eyes narrowed on a window, set high in the wall.

She could see the outline of a cloaked figure, staring into the building and looking directly at her.

Maroon eyes. She would recognise those eyes anywhere.

Yuuki.

As soon as she saw those eyes, they were gone.

* * *

><p>There had been news of an attack on the Kage Summit. This had resulted in a large majority of ROOT operatives to be called to the planning station in another building and, thankfully, this meant that security was lessened in the Hokage tower.<p>

Tenten watched as a pair of guards walked away from their station.

Now!

She had less than thirty seconds to reach that door, before the next pair of guards would come to keep watch.

She streaked towards the door, flung it open and closed it just as quickly, and ran up the stairs, two at a time.

She ran, with light feet, towards the door to the Hokage's office.

If she opened this door, one of two possible alarms would be set off. One alarm would alert the whole building and the other would alert only Danzou. Considering he was at the Kage Summit, she could not care less if the latter alarm went off.

The only way to find out which alarm it was, would be to try.

She tentatively cracked the door open. When nothing happened, she opened the door wider. And wider until she could slip through and quietly closed the door behind her.

She may be triumphant for now, but she knew she would be in trouble when Danzou arrived back in Konoha. She did not care though.

Ever since Tenten had seen that woman on the bell tower, a thirst for knowledge about her own past had threatened to consume her unless sated.

When young Shinobi, fresh out of the academy, passed the test to become a registered Genin, all information about them is found and stored. Not a single thing is left out, in order to reduce the chances of an enemy succeeding in infiltrating the village's ranks.

She walked towards a pile of files and began rifling through them, searching for her own.

The office was a lot neater than it had been when Tsunade had been Hokage. It was…unnerving. Tenten preferred the large, precarious piles of paper that had been present under Tsunade's reign.

She huffed when she realised that her file was not in this particular section, immediately moving on to the next pile.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of casting nervous glances around, she found her file. She quickly flipped it open to see a picture of her twelve-year old self staring back at her.

Forename: Tenten

Surname: -

Country of origin: Yukigakure

Status when found: assumed orphan

Parents: - (assumed deceased)

Retrieved by ANBU Team 4: Kisuke Maboroshi (deceased captain)

Tora (codename)

Tenzō (codename)

On operation to secure area ransacked by rogue ninja.

That was all there was. In the entire pile she had just searched through, hers was the thinnest folder.

The only operative she had a name of was Kisuke Maboroshi, but he was dead. The other two operatives would not have a file, in order to keep their identities secret.

The only thing she could think of doing was finding Kisuke Maboroshi's file. Once she had found it, she quickly scanned the details.

The only useful piece of information was his, currently, alive wife.

Seems like she would need to pay a visit to this woman.

* * *

><p>Karin stared wide-eyed at the exact spot that Sasuke had been less than a second ago, before the Third Tsuchikage had used a strange jutsu.<p>

Just like that Sasuke had disappeared, but what was even more disturbing was the fact that the Tsuchikage was a little midget. A _floating _midget.

"Sasuke's chakra is…gone! N-No way…Then he's…" Karin struggled to complete the sentence.

"Of course. His body's been dispersed into molecules…And you're next!" The Tsuchikage answered her unfinished question, and turned to look at her making her aware that she was his next target.

Before the Tsuchikage could commence with his jutsu, the Raikage ran into the room and the fury radiating from him was tangible.

"Where's Sasuke?! Where the hell is Sasuke?!" He looked around the destroyed room, searching for his target with narrowed eyes.

"I smashed him into dust." The Tsuchikage answered calmly, a smirk present on his wrinkled face.

"What the hell?! _I _was going to do that. Why did you-!" The Tsuchikage irate voice was cut off by another.

"You still have that chance." An orange mask materialised in mid air, slowly forming a body.

"So stop your whining, Raikage." Sandal-clad feet landed on a table as the space-time just was completed.

"My name is Uchiha Madara."

"Sasuke!" Karin gasped, a smile materialising on her scratched face.

Madara held Sasuke, using one arm, as he surveyed the figures in the room from behind his mask.

"I have something I want to explain to you. After you've understood it, I want to ask you something." Madara stated.

The Raikage glared at him, "About what?!"

"My goal: The Eye of the Moon plan." Madara's only visibly eyes flashed.

* * *

><p>"I think we are in deep shit 'cause it's been over thirty minutes." Suigetsu remarked casually.<p>

Sakura glared at him. He just had to state the obvious.

"There they are!" They heard a voice yell. They turned to see a hoard of samurai running their way.

Sakura cursed. There were so many. "Take these and run that way."

She shoved some chakra-replenishing soldier pills into Suigetsu's hand motioned for both he and Jugo to run. She ran in the opposite direction. The only way to lose the samurai was to split up.

It seemed that her endeavour to find Suigetsu and Jugo had been counter-productive, considering that she had found them only to send them away.

Ah well, at least she knew they were alive.

* * *

><p>Danzou was dead.<p>

Sakura crawled towards an unconscious Karin and attempted to heal her.

Sasuke was gone. He was gone. Darkness had completely consumed him.

Danzou had taken Karin hostage, in an attempt, to evade Sasuke's endless attacks. It did not work. Instead, Sasuke had done the unthinkable.

He had aimed with his chidori and stabbed straight through his _teammate's _heart, in order to pierce Danzou's.

She would never forget his face in that moment. The look of dark triumph and his whispered words had shaken her to her very core.

"That's one down, Brother."

Her form was shaking. When she had separated from Suigetsu and Jugo, Madara had materialised in front of her and taken her.

She had witnessed the darkness consume Sasuke, as he fought Danzou.

_What happened to you, Sasuke?_

Madara had disappeared after taking Danzou and had given Sasuke the 'advice' of getting rid of Karin. Apparently, she had too much information about both Sasuke and Madara. Sasuke had bluntly stated that he and Madara were no longer partners and Madara had simply waved off his comment.

Sakura crawled towards Karin. They may not have gotten along, but Karin had been nothing but loyal to Sasuke. She did not deserve what he was going to do.

"No! Don't kill her you…you brute!" She yelled, she stood up shakily. The constant explosions had damaged the semi-circular canals in her ear, and therefore her balance was off. But she eventually managed to stand, but almost fell over. She placed a hand on a stone pillar and ignored the desire to just close her eyes, instead deciding to glare at Sasuke.

"You were late." He ignored her attempts to stand upright.

"I…what?" She looked at him confused.

"I said thirty minutes." He looked at her dangerously. She had completely forgotten what Sasuke had said before she had left to find Suigetsu and Jugo.

"There were samurai and we were separated from each other an-" She explained, before realising that he had no right to question her being late by a couple of minutes.

"Hey! Piss off! I don't have to ex-" She started, a rebellious edge decorating her tone, only to be interrupted by a familiar yell.

"Sasuke!"

Her eyes widened.

Kakashi.

Of course, he must have sensed the explosive chakra signatures of Sasuke and Danzou and followed them.

He had not seen her yet as she was shielded from his keen eyes by the stone pillar.

Sasuke had turned around by now, giving her a chance to drop to her knees and heal Karin as fast as possible. He cast a disapproving look behind him, when he sensed her medicinal chakra, but otherwise said nothing.

"How far you've fallen, Sasuke!" Kakashi said, referring to his recent actions of joining Akatsuki and kidnapping the Raikage's brother, Bee.

"Sasuke…I don't like repeating myself." Kakashi began, his voice deadly serious.

"However, I'll say this one last time. Don't be consumed by your revenge!" Kakashi finished, reiterating the words he had said to Sasuke two years ago, before he had betrayed them. It had been a long time since she had seen Kakashi. He looked the same as before, and it eased her panicked heart to see him. Even though he had hurt her, he had been her sensei, someone who she had greatly respected. She half expected him to whip out his Icha Icha novel.

Her nostalgic thoughts were interrupted by maniacal laughter. His bitter smile faded as he said, "Itachi, my father, my mother…Even my clan! Bring them back to me! If you can do that, I'll stop!"

He was asking the impossible and he knew it.

"I don't want to kill you." Kakashi said. Sakura could tell that he honestly did not want to. What teacher would? She felt sorry for him; he had watched the students under his care split apart and walk down their own separate paths. She knew he resented himself for that.

"You speak as if you _could_. Don't act as if you're still my teacher! I'm itching to kill you, Kakashi!"

Sakura's eyes widened.

_Madara's driven him this far…_

Sakura could not help but think that maybe it was just Sasuke. Maybe, Sasuke's own thoughts had driven him this far.

Kakashi took his cloak off and threw it to the side, preparing himself for a battle.

"As the leader of Team 7, I'll settle everything right here, right now!" Kakashi stated, reminiscing on the fact that no matter how low Orochimaru fell, his sensei, the Third Hokage, had always adored him.

"I don't like repeating myself either. Don't act as if you're still my teacher." Sasuke said, sounding annoyed.

Kakashi lifted his headband to reveal the blood red eye of a Sharingan, "I now understand how the Third Hokage-sama felt."

"And you're gonna end up just like he did." Sasuke stated calmly.

At that moment, Sakura was disgusted. No matter how much Kakashi's degrading words had hurt her, two years ago, she had never _ever _wanted to kill him.

Sakura finished healing Karin, whose eyes had just barely cracked open.

"Listen to me, you have to leave! Go with that man. Sasuke will kill you if you remain here!" She shook Karin to get her to listen, "Listen to me! You have to leave!"

Karin nodded and Sakura stood up with Karin in one arm.

She peeked around the stone pillar, watching as Kakashi appeared behind Sasuke.

Sasuke seemed to be in pain and had not noticed the threat behind him. The heels of his hands were pressed against his eyes, in an attempt to ease the pain that had resulted from overuse of his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw where Kakashi's kunai was aiming. She felt her mouth open, to yell a warning, but stopped herself. If Sasuke dies, it would all be over. Innocent people would not have to die for Sasuke's revenge.

It was too late now; she had lost the chance of warning Sasuke. She could only watch as Kakashi's kunai plunged towards Sasuke's heart, unsure as to whether or not she had made the right decision.

If she had blinked, she would have missed it. Sasuke had turned around so quickly, a blur was all that could be seen, and had grabbed Kakashi's hand, twisting it. The kunai fell from Kakashi's grasp and Sasuke caught it, aiming for Kakashi's throat.

She lunged out from behind the stone pillar and yelled, "Don't do it, Sasuke!"

An orange blur was all she saw. The flash of a kunai deflecting Sasuke's.

And cerulean blue eyes.

Naruto.

_"It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them by the force of the very passion they have suppressed and thing themselves superior to." George Santayana_

_A/N:=Another chapter. I recently decided to get a beta, Sakura-Haruno-Uchiha 10. I am sure that the quality of the chapter has increased. Like I said at the start of this chapter, i__f anyone can recommend any good SasuSaku or ItaSaku stories, please leave them in a review. I feel as though I have read so many and I can't find anymore to read. So please leave recommendations in a review.___

___Preview___

"You were late." Sasuke said, looking positively dangerous with trails of blood on his chest.

"In case you didn't get it the first time, I don't need to explain mys-" Sakura was cut off when Sasuke grabbed her and slammed her on to the mattress.

"Oof!"

_End preview_


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